Dancing with the Dragon
by Meellaa
Summary: What did Lucy do at Gray's party on Friday? Follow Lucy, a dancer at Fiore Academy of Sports when she tries to find out. She might find out more than she originally bargained for. Rated M for Adult content; explicit sexual themes, alcohol consumption and violence.
1. Prologue

**A/N Hi Everyone, new girl here! I've been working on this story for some time now and I'm finally in a place where I can share it with you. Yey! I hope you like it, if you do or don't, please let me know, the more I know the better I can become. Thanks a lot! Let's do this!**

**And as so many others here, I don't own Fairy tail.**

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><p>Prologue<p>

"Did you hear? Natsu won his fight yesterday." Lisanna said, dripping some water on her hand and slapping it to her hot, sweaty neck, her short white hair stuck to her skin. Lucy gulped water from her own water bottle and lifted her eyebrows.

"Figures." She said and looked away to meet her brown eyes in the full length wall mirror. She was exhausted of course, sweat dripped from her forehead and ran along her back and chest and her blue top was nearly drenched. In her exhaustion she stood hunched over, hands on knees, breathing hard. Her blonde hair was plastered to her face and her cheeks flushed.

Lisanna smiled

"You should totally ask him out." She said. Lucy turned to her.

"Who?" As if she hadn't heard or hadn't made the connection.

"Natsu!" Lisanna said. Lucy turned away again glad that her face was so red that her blush didn't show.

"Two athletes in a relationship? I think the room would implode if we ever found time for each other." She said, Lisanna laughed

"Erza seems to manage though" She said and followed suit with Lucy who put down her water bottle and moved over to the stereo and restart the music.

"Yeah. But Erza doesn't sleep." Lucy said and laughed, hit replay and hurried over to Lisanna's side. They rehearsed for another two hours. Sweat dripped and flung off them as they twirled in perfectly synchronized pirouettes. Their clothes stuck to their bodies, heavy with their exhaustion but they danced on.

Come Monday morning Professor Mira-Jane Strauss would come to inspect their routines and give comments. Prof. Strauss was a kind teacher for sure, always smiling, as long as you didn't disturb her art. When she went down to business and you made a mistake, she would turn into a demon. Lucy had seen this in her first year at Fiore Academy of Sports, the poor boy had run out of the classroom crying because he miss-stepped in a routine and nearly injured his partner. Lucy shuddered at the memory and had to concentrate on her upturned leg in her attitude jump. She landed easily on her right leg and brought her left leg around and in front, her toes perfectly pointed, her leg outturned. Her foot flexed as the music demanded it and she stepped forward into it, her arms coming up at her sides, over her head and to the floor to pull her up in a split handstand. God she loved dancing.

The assignment Prof. Strauss had given them was to create a routine that showed off their technique. This meant, once the routine was done, a lot of slow rehearsal. Their movement had to be perfect, their body position just at the right spot at any given time. Their core had to be as stable as a mountain and they had to move in unison as if they were a glitch in the Matrix. It was hard, but Lucy loved to feel the muscles in her body flex and relax when she moved and release and tense as she brought her leg up and up to align it with the wall in a full split swing around.

A few minutes later the two girls came together, Lucy's back on Lisanna's who slowly moved to the floor while supporting Lucy on their assent as if going to sleep. At the last impact of the music both bodies drew up in grotesque poses, hands and fingers like claws, a leg twisted in an odd angle, eyes intense, hair flinging as the music died down and went silent.

Panting Lucy stood up, her hands on her knees as she breathed deeply. Behind her Lisanna sprawled on the floor panting just as hard as Lucy. One fist flung weakly into the air in a meager triumphant gesture and Lucy chuckled. She nearly collapsed on the floor next to Lisanna but a tingle at the back of her neck made her turn around. Someone had been watching her but she saw nothing behind the wall of windows.

"If Prof. Strauss doesn't like that, I think I might die." Lisanna said and Lucy breathed a laugh.

"I think we'll be fine. Just, you know, try not to faint." She said but was too exhausted to laugh. Lisanna sat up and stared at Lucy, mouth open and gulping air.

"That's easy for you to say, with legs like yours, nothing can go wrong!" Lucy breathed a soft laugh.

"Same goes for your arms." They looked at each other for a moment, laughed and Lucy pulled Lisanna to her feet. They picked up their things and made to head out of the rehearsal room. The prickling feeling at Lucy's neck returned and again, she could see nothing when she turned to look. She walked stiffly to her bag. Her legs were so shaky she had to keep them locked straight the moment they hit the ground or she would surely fall. But this was old news and she made her way to the stereo to pick out the CD and store it in her bag.

Lucy waited at Lisanna at the door and she walked just as stiffly. It looked rather comical Lucy had to admit, but there was simply no way around it. Not after hours and hours of rehearsal. Despite the shakiness in her legs however Lucy was rather fond of the burn in her thighs and arms. It told her that she had done a good job that day.

They stepped out into the deserted and cold corridor. The lights on the pale white walls did little to lighten up the hall. It was already dark outside and it only made it worse. School was open for any student who wanted to train at odd times although, all students were advised to sleep during night hours. Like that was going to happen on a Friday.

"What time is it anyway?" Lucy asked and pulled her bag around to pull out a sweater. Lisanna checked her phone.

"Ten past seven." She said.

"You're coming to Grey's party tonight right?" Lucy asked

"Of course." Lisanna said and followed Lucy's example with a sweater.

"Speak of the devil." Lucy said as they turned a corner and saw Gray at the end, dressed in fitted workout pants and nothing else. His black hair was slick after a workout but somehow still seemed to stick up in angles. It was his lack of clothing that always amazed Lucy and how he managed to be an Ice-runner without wearing clothes was beyond her.

Gray was talking to someone Lucy couldn't see but by the way his finger pointed angrily and his arms flailed it could be none-other than the master MMA fighter, Gray's personal frenemy, the salamander, Natsu Dragneel. Lisanna nudged Lucy in the ribs and Lucy forced away a blush with a broad smile.

The moment they came close enough to see them Natsu's eyes locked with Lucy's but only for a moment. When Natsu didn't respond to Gray's latest insult of 'flame brain' he turned around and greeted them. Lucy shivered at the sight of Gray's bare chest and pulled her sweater closer around herself. How could he not be cold? Natsu wore one of his (apparently) favorite black and gold rimmed shirts with matching pants. His white scaly scarf wrapped comfortable around his neck. His pink hair stuck up in angles but were damp too. He must have gotten out of training recently. His black eyes were intense as always.

"Put on some clothes stripper." Lisanna barked at Gray with a grin and behind him Natsu gaped insisting that those were the very words he had just used. Apparently Lisanna received a different reaction than Natsu as Gray promptly stared down his chest in surprise and yelled

"What the?!"

"I told you it was gone!" Natsu barked from behind Gray but he ignored him.

Lucy looked over to Natsu and smiled wider.

"I heard you won yesterday. Congrats." Natsu glared at Gray for another moment then looked at Lucy. He took a moment to register what she had said then broke out into his famous – toothy – boyish grin that made her heart want to stop.

"The guy didn't even have a chance!" He said grinning and slapped his fist into his palm. "That's what happens when you challenge the Salamander."

"Only an idiot would challenge you in a fair fight." Gray mumbled but Natsu had heard him. He laughed and pointed.

"You challenge me all the time, you just called yourself an idiot, idiot!"

"Only because you're too dense to take a compliment when it's presented to you on a platter, dim wit!" Gray shouted back

"What's it to you?"

"It pisses me off is what!"

"So you wanna go?!"

"Fine!"

Natsu pulled back his first ready to strike, their forehead were pressed together and their gazes to intense it was palpable. Lucy and Lisanna rolled their eyes at each other.

"Oh hey Erza." Lucy suddenly said loudly and the effect was immediate. Within seconds the two men slung their arms around each other's necks and grinned as if they had never had a quarrel in their lives. Lucy and Lisanna laughed at their foolish faces, dripping with restrained anger and walked around them. It took another moment for them to realize… and there was the obligatory

"You tricked us!" From both Natsu and Gray in unison. Lucy waved at them with a smile

"We'll see you at the party!" She called back but her words were drowned out by the men's unison yell of

"Are you copying me?!"

"You should totally ask him out." Lisanna said when they were out of earshot but Lucy shook her head with a smile.

"I think he's more of brunet type of guy." She said in a small voice. She felt Lisanna glaring at her and saw the frown out of the corner of her eye.

"That's the fifth excuse I've heard from you this week." She said.

"Maybe you should stop telling me I should ask him out!" Lucy said and failed to keep a civilized tone. Lisanna chuckled.

"You so like him. I'm totally setting you two up tonight." Lucy's mouth fell open.

"Why would you do that to me Lisanna Strauss?" Lisanna grinned, sped up and ran out of the front double doors of Fiore Academy. Lucy hurried after her, her legs still painfully stiff from that day's training.

"If you do and he rejects me I'll tear you to pieces!" She yelled and chased Lisanna across campus to the tall grey building that contained their shared dorm room.


	2. Friday, The party

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. Let's get the story rolling properly! =D**

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><p>Friday<p>

The Party

The two girls hurried home and Lucy called shotgun on the bathroom. Lisanna complained but shotgun was shotgun. So Lucy lay in the tub in their white tiled bathroom until Lisanna hammered on the door telling her that it was past 8 and if she didn't get her fanny out right now she would barge in and throw her out herself. Lucy sighed and wished it was an empty threat but Lisanna had some of her sister Mira-Jane's fire in her. So Lucy heaved herself out of the bath, her arms still shaking from that day's exertion. The water dripped from her and she took her time to dry of, running an ran extra hand over her freshly shaven legs. She wiped the mirror free of the fogg and dabbed some moisturizer on her face before opening the door and nearly walking into Lisanna's outstretched fist. She had just been about to knock again it seemed. Lisanna growled, brushed past Lucy and pushed her aside so she could slam the door behind her. There was a low growl of;

"About time." behind the door and Lucy laughed.

Wrapping her towel around her hair she let the fresh air in her room dry off any left over water on her body and stepped into matching red underwear. The bra pushing her breasts together smoothly, making them look even bigger. She didn't need any added padding really, her chest was ample enough as it was, but at a party like Gray's it didn't hurt to have a stunning cleavage. A moment later however she changed her mind and flung off the bra and put on one of her favorite backless halter tops. It was delicious, dark red and shimmering. She added a frilly black skirt and maroon pumps to the outfit, slapped on some mascara and red lipstick, put her hair into pigtails and she was as cute as she would ever be. With a dash of sexy, if she might say so herself.

Moments later Lisanna stepped out of the bathroom and did a similar procedure only she wore a midnight blue tube top, white shorts and no lipstick.

At 9 sharp they left their dorm room for Gray's parent's mansion off campus. Mr and Mrs Fulbuster never used that particular house but kept a full staff employed. This meant that every weekend Gray hosted the most legendary party of Fiore Academy of Sports and afterwards, the maids would clean it all up again. There were no complaints of course but lately Lucy and some of her friends had gotten into the habit of helping with the cleaning up, much to the staff's appreciation.

The mansion was huge and about half an hour walk from campus. The outside walls were covered from top to bottom with vines that completely obscured whatever original color there had once been In autumn they turned red making it look as if the house was on constant fire. Some of the windows were even covered and the gardeners had to cut away square holes to the windows could be opened at all. Up front was a fountain and around it one of those round about driveways for rich people parties. It was as if walking into an upper-class party in 1915. Only the music was a steady beat and bases dropped left and right. No butlers served champagne from silver platters and the guest were dressed far more casually and far more provocatively. Lucy absolutely loved it.

The party was already in high spirits when they arrived. Seeing as it was Friday it was sure to have started just after classes finished, so around four.

The moment they stepped inside they were greeted by the Guard and Lisanna's brother, Elfman. He was probably the largest man in Fiore Academy and his subject was armwrestling. He hair white hair like Lisanna but he was usually there to break up especially brutal brawls and to throw out anyone who broke the one, single rule at the Fullbuster mansion – Don't be a kill-joy.

The second thing that greeted them was a shot and a cup of beer each handed to them by Cana. She was Mira-Jane's second in command and the go-to person if you wanted some boos. The tradition was that everyone who came to Gray's party got a shot and a beer to start the night off with. It had started at Gray's birthday party a year before and no one had seen a reason to stop since then. Lucy and Lisanna chugged down the beer and topped it off with the shot, shouted a cheer and threw the cups behind them. It burned as it went down Lucy's throat and she relished the burning in the pit of her stomach. Cana gave them both a high-five and joined in their cheer. She took a large draw from her bottle and wobbled off into the crowd. Cana was usually the first to be drunk and one of the last to pass out.

Gray's house had large double doors that entered into a two story high entrance hall with white marble. To the left and right along the walls were staircases leading up to a second and third floor. The second floor was full of bedrooms and the third was off limits for the party guests. To the right was one of the livingrooms, to the left another smaller one and those were the only places Lucy had ever really been to.

The place was packed with bodies moving against one another. The music droned in Lucy's ears as she shuffled her way forward to get to a bar to get a drink. The mass of bodies swayed with the music, glasses and bottles were held in the air and shouts of laughter, cheers and breaking glass was mixed in with the constant beat. Lucy recognised Erza heading upstairs with Jellal. Their red and blue hair could have been seen from miles away. They didn't see her though and Lucy headed into the right living area where she simply started to dance.

Soon Lucy found herself separated from Lisanna, comfortably drunk, a spicy roll in her hand and dancing on a living room table. It wasn't the coordinated movement of legs, arms and body, this was rather a rhythmical movement of hips swaying side to side. Occasionally her arms flung in the air and pumped with the music and her head whipped around so her hair strained against the ribbons that held it together. Her dancing made a crowd collect around her table and cheer her on with fists and hands trying to touch her but knowing to stay away.

Lucy didn't care much for the attention, it wasn't for them that she danced. There was one stare that she couldn't shake off though and in her drunken mind it was for those eyes that she danced and her drunken blush would stay softly on her cheeks while she did.

Some time after midnight a blue haired man with tattoos of a few triangles under his eyes came into the living room with a bottle and shouted

"Belly-shots!" And the whole crowd erupted in yells and cheers of approval. All those who had been dancing on tables, including Lucy and only one guy, the rest of them girls, dropped to their backs on their tables. Lucy grinned foolishly as her head spun drastically and lifted her arms as to follow those movements. Before someone could do it for her though she yanked her top up over her belly and moments later someone poured liquor onto her belly button. She giggled at the sudden cold liquid and giggled even more and cheered as a stranger came up and licked her belly button clear of alcohol. Every person who did so was rewarded with a loud cheer from the crowd and Lucy joined in just as loudly as ten different people slurped liquor from her stomach.

At the end she was rewarded with a large draw from a bottle of something the blue haired man handed her. He grinned at her and she thought she recognized him. Then again, maybe not and her head spun and she giggled again as he disappeared quickly after she had given him his bottle back. The liquid settled hard in her stomach and burned all the way down. It was nice, hot and hard.

Someone pulled her onto her feet as someone else stepped onto the table and started dancing and very quickly a crowd gathered around that person to cheer them on as they showed off their moves. In quick succession Lucy was shuffled away from the table and out of the dancing crowd. She stumbled and laughed and put her finger to her lip. She looked around and saw that she was in the large white entrance hall, the staircase to her right. Half way up to the second floor stood Natsu and Gray talking. Lucy giggled, stepped over some passed out body and wobbled precariously over to the two men. They were talking about something. Actually talking! Her finger still on her lip she reached out for them but they were still too far away. What were they talking about? But the crowd was too loud to hear anything and when she was within earshot both Natsu and Gray turned to her and grinned drunkenly. Lucy came to a halt in front of them but swayed enough to grab a hold of both their shoulders. They in turn grabbed something else to keep from falling over themselves. Natsu grabbed the wall and Gray another person, who wasn't all that stable either but it held them upright. Lucy grinned.

"You two are so adorable when you're blushing." She giggled and Natsu flashed his trademark grin.

"Wouldn't be a party without a blush!" Natsu proclaimed "Without red faces and dancing the thing isn't even a party!" He bent his knees a couple of times making his upper body and mostly his head bob and wobble. Lucy blinked a few times and strained to look at Natsu properly. Then she giggled and realized that Natsu was trying to dance.

Something seemed off about him though she registered in her drunken mind. His face was red from alcohol, no it wasn't that. His shirt was buttoned and clean, his scarf wrapped as usual around his neck. His pink hair was messy as though he had just been in a fight or someone had drawn their fingers through it. Lucy frowned. She didn't like that second scenario for some reason. But that wasn't it either. It was his pants! White pants! Who wore white pants to a party? And miraculously kept them clean for so long? But she had to admit, his bum looked amazing on those pants. She giggled and thought that she could look at it forever.

Gray was wearing a grey shirt and there were a few too many buttons unbuttoned. In fact, more buttons were unbuttoned that buttons were buttoned Lucy noted and took her hand from Gray's shoulder to count them. No use, she swayed too much and gripped Natsu's shoulder tighter. He was warm.

Someone in the distance shouted

"Belly-shots!" again and Lucy's eyes widened as she shook Natsu and pulled him towards her. He nearly fell but caught himself.

"You gotta do a belly-shot off me!" Lucy yelled and tugged at his arm and made a surprisingly swift way through the crowd to where she knew the guy with the belly-shots would be.

For some reason her heart was beating fast, Lucy noted dimly and the wrist in her hand was markedly hot against her skin. Hot like the shots that went down her throat when she drank only on the outside and whatever feeling went through her, she didn't want to let go of it.

She pulled Natsu up to the guy who administered the belly-shots and he turned to her. He grinned and swayed. He too was drunk off his rockers.

"Lucy's up for belly-shots!" He yelled and the crowd cheered loudly.

"Natsu's gotta do one first!" Lucy yelled. "As a reward for winning yesterday!" She grinned back at Natsu but didn't see his burning face, only his grinning lips. The man turned from Lucy

"Did you hear that folks!? Natsu is still undefeated!" Had he had a microphone he wouldn't have been any louder. Still the crowd's cheers and applause drowned out his loud voice with ease.

Lucy found herself on her back, her top yanked up so high she knew the bottom of her breasts were showing. The crowd roared and she cheered, not caring and giggled as Natsu slowly lowered his face to her belly. His breath was hot on her skin, a hand touched her upper stomach lightly and his left hand was planted firmly on the table next to her hip. It brushed her skin as her skirt hitched. Her heart beat so fast she wanted to giggle and blush and cover her face, which was strange since she had been the belly to serve several belly-shots that night. Natsu grinned at her, his eyes partly lidded and delicious looking. He bent over and slurped the alcohol from her belly-button. His tongue stuck out and licked her skin clean. His hand tightened on her stomach and it sent hot sparks racing through her. She could only just keep a soft moan inside. He was so warm he seemed to be on fire.

When she forced herself up the man with the tattooed face met her gaze with a wicked grin. He knew her, but she couldn't place his face. She reached out for her reward but he shook his head and grinned even wider.

"Your turn to do a belly-shot." He said quietly but the room heard him and roared, or roared for the sake of roaring, Lucy didn't really know, or care. The people in the room knew quite well what they knew. Their shouts reverberated through her.

"Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!" They shouted and jumped with every time they repeated her name. The blue haired man turned to the crowd.

"I volunteer NASTU! SALAMANDER! DRAGNEEL!" He yelled and thrust his fist in the air. Natsu threw up his own fists and joined the crowd. He laughed, jumped up on the table that Lucy still sat on and mimicked a fire breather with a stick he had gotten from somewhere. The crowd roared as if it had been actual fire. Even Lucy, her shock suddenly gone, roared and cheered.

"Lucy! Natsu! Lucy! Natsu!" The crowd roared as Natsu lay down on the table and Lucy wasted no time yanking up his shirt and revealing his tanned skin and perfect abs. Lucy grinned and looked at Natsu. She wanted to tell him "damn" but knew the crowd's roar would make any word she spoke inaudible. Instead she giggled and winked and Natsu grinned too.

Every breath he took made the muscles under his skin contract and it made Lucy blush.

Natsu cheered again, fists in the air as someone poured liquor sloppily over his stomach. It found the dents in his muscles and traced down to his navel where it pooled. With a flutter in her heart Lucy bent forward and placed a hand on his upper belly, her thumb stroked the ripples of muscle there and she felt them contract under her touch. She grinned and softly traced her tongue along his stomach. The crowd loved it. She loved it. He was hot against her tongue and he shuddered under her touch. She traced her tongue around his navel and finally slurped up the liquid there, it went down burning hot.

The crowd cheered louder than ever when her head came back up again and for a moment Lucy closed her eyes and licked her lips, enjoying the heat that spread out from her stomach and hand. Natsu moved under her but she kept her hand firmly planted on his chest. He must have done something because she crowd cheered loudly again. Amazingly she could still hear the song that came on that very moment. Lucy's eyes widened and she almost stumbled and pulled back. Natsu sat up and pulled down his shirt and shouted something at the blue haired man who grinned. Lucy climbed up on the table next to where he sat, grabbed him under the arms and pulled. She only dimly realized how close that brought him to her, his hair tickling her nose.

"You gotta dance with me!" She yelled. Natsu hesitated, mumbled something about not wanting to dance but Lucy's insisting hands seemed to win him over. Though her pulls didn't do much to help, he eventually stood on the table next to her looking slightly out of sorts. He leaned in close. Yelling in her ear so she would hear.

"I don't know how to dance." He was close, his pink hair brushed against her cheeks and she knew she was blushing but at his words she smiled.

"Just move your hips from side to side." She yelled back and he stepped back, raised his eyebrows in a question and moved his hips to the left as if he was hip-bumping someone and then the same to the right. Lucy laughed and he did it again, grinning. She didn't know how he moved but his hips (and entire midriff) did indeed move from side to side. His legs straight, his upper body slightly bent forward. She just had to dance his dance. Moments later the whole crowd was dancing the Natsu dance and it was forever (at least for that evening's forever) know as such.

When the music changed it turned to a song with a slow and demanding beat. It thumped in Lucy's chest and all she wanted was Natsu's heat against her body. She turned to him and grabbed him by the shoulders so he would face her. She turned her back to him and placed his hands on her hips. When his hands touched her sparks flew through her. She leaned back and pulled him against her by the neck. His skin was clammy and hot and she only needed his heat.

"I'll show you how to dance." She said in a deep voice, not knowing or caring if he heard her. Then she moved her hips in a circle against him and immediately his hands tightened. His breath was on her neck and it smelled stingy and of alcohol. At that moment it was the best smell in the world.

She continued to move, alternating from drawing circles against him to swaying side to side. Her shoulders were pushed against his chest and his hands gripped her hips tight. One arm lay draped over his neck keeping him close. Every place she touched him sent sparks through her. She wanted his heat and nothing else.

Slowly and uncertainly Natsu started to move his own hips against her and he pushed his chest further against her back. His breath on her neck was harder than before and Lucy felt his hands twitch as if they wanted to move and touch more of her. She wouldn't have objected if he did but was too busy dancing and staying on her feet to tell him so.

Suddenly she wondered what time it was. On the wall to her right was a large clock and told it was nearly two in the morning. Then her surroundings went black.

Hands dipped under her shirt and lifted it over her head. The cold air hit her bare chest and she suppressed a shiver. Immediately a pair of hot hands brushed her sensitive skin and lips crushed to hers. She drew hands into hair to pull the lips close, to glue them to hers but they moved away to kiss and suck on her skin, to suck on her hard nipples and to make her moan.

An insistent hand moved up her stomach sending fire across her skin, pushed between her bare breasts and pushed her into the bed as she arched her back. A moan escaped her lips as another delicious wave of pleasure rushed through her. She smiled as she pushed against the hand on her chest wanting so badly to arch her back and move into the insistent tongue on her clit, so close to release.

A large penis sprung out of a pair of pants lost on the floor. She smiled and wrapped her hand around the shaft. A breathy moan escaped her partner's mouth and she immediately wrapped her swollen, yearning lips around the tip. Hips spasmed but she kept her lips tightly sealed around the soft skin. Slowly she moved the length into her mouth drawing another breathy moan from its owner and she squeezed her hand on a tight and muscled butt cheek.

Lips were crushed against hers again. The body above her moved insistently. Breaths pushed through the desperate kisses as her hands curled themselves into soft hair. Her legs were strung around her partner's hips waiting to be filled, to be entered. Her partner breathed above her and held their foreheads together. Just before she was filled to the brim, a husky voice whispered "I'm all fired up, Lucy." She moaned loudly as the hips moved into her and her partner did the same. The arms on the side of her head buckled and a heavy body fell onto her, hips moved, pushing into her over and over, Lucy shouting her pleasure and she was pushed over the edge time and time again.


	3. Saturday, A Lesson in Dance

A/N: Hi everyone! Update WOO! Thanks to everyone who's fav, followed, reviewed and read, I'm so happy you liked it. If there's anything I can do better, please let me know! Otherwise, thanks again and on with the story =D

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><p>Saturday<p>

A lesson in Dance

The silence woke Lucy up eventually. No. The laughter a floor down woke her. She must still be a Gray's. She took a deep breath and felt that she was naked when her breasts brushed against her blanket. Why was she naked? Her eyes flew open but with a groan she had to shut them again. Blinding light was in her face from a window to her left and she turned to her side where it wouldn't be so. She worked her tongue in her mouth to get some moisture back and as she did she realized that her lady-parts were throbbing, hard. Slightly panicked she moved her hand down to feel for any damage. She winced as she touched her swollen folds and the slickness that was there. Was it blood? Nothing seemed to be broken she concluded and moved her hand back up to inspect it. Carefully she opened her eyes and looked at her hand. It was slick with see-through juices. She frowned. She didn't remember sleeping with anyone. No wait... She blushed remembering his hands on her and the way he had made her feel. Had it been a he? She blushed more and pushed herself up. With a groan she flopped back down. She wanted to cover her lady parts with pillow soft as feathers. Goodness she was sore. Unless some girl had a strap-on waiting in her bag just in case, it had definitely been a guy.

She looked over to the side of the bed that was unoccupied and found it disturbingly undisturbed as though someone had made the bed while she was sleeping. It could be that her partner for the night had already left… and made the bed before he did. It was common enough for people to leave before the other person woke. This was after all not the first time Lucy had had a one night stand or drunken sex for that matter. It could also be that they had simply slept together and not fallen asleep afterwards. The bed was big, she probably never rolled over to that side. The sex must have been brilliant for her nether region to still be throbbing and still be dripping. What troubled her the most was the fact that she couldn't remember who it was she had slept with. She tried to think but the only thing she could remember was that he had been tall and well built. But most guys at the school fit that description! What did his face look like? She tried to think but all she remembered were his rough lips on hers and on her skin sending sparks through her entire body. That didn't help.

She sat up carefully, leaning back on her arms to avoid any more pain. The sheets fell away from her and she looked down on her chest. Her mouth fell open. Hickeys. With a lot of her body covered from her view by her chest she saw at least four. She sprang up and hurried to the mirror across the room. More hickeys in intimate places, one on her neck below her ear, damn that one was going to show. Lucy groaned and turned to the room again. At least her clothes were still there. If she and whoever she had slept with hadn't fallen asleep together afterwards, why was she naked, why had she bothered undressing? She stepped over to her clothes and pulled them on, cringing a little as the fabric of her panties brushed her sensitive skin.

Fully dressed in last night's outfit she realized that she wasn't particularly hung over. She frowned. She had drunk enough to have blackouts, how could she not be hung over? But she supposed that was the least of her problems and she hurried out of the door and down the stairs, thinking that maybe Lisanna and Gray knew something more.

Lisanna was already up and helping the maids to clean in the living area where Lucy had danced most of the night. She sat on the floor with a bucket of water next to her and a rag in her hand, her white hair stuck up in odd angles and she looked as though she hadn't slept in days. She had dark circles under her eyes and her movements were sluggish. Lucy wasn't even sure if she was hung over or still drunk. She walked over to her. A maid stood in the back of the room, her pink hair short and dressed in a short black dress with an apron around her waist. She was sweeping the floor and the sound of crushed glass clinking together reached Lucy's ears.

"Hey Lisanna…" She hesitated as Lisanna looked up at her with red puffy eyes. "… Are you okay?" Lisanna wretched and moved a hand to cover her mouth. Her pale skin matched her white hair and a strange green shade was smudged on her cheeks. She looked simply horrible. When Lisanna shook her head and wretched again Lucy knew that she was indeed hung over and badly so. She needed to take her home, the last thing she needed was to clean up other people's vomit.

"Gray!" Lucy shouted and Lisanna winced at the loud noise. Lucy put a protective arm around the girl and held her steady against her leg as she swayed on the floor. Lucy shuddered at the touch and looked down at her. Lisanna was icy cold and not shivering. It worried Lucy and wished Gray would hurry up so she could get Lisanna home.

"Gray!" she shouted again "Lisanna and I are leaving!" At that moment Gray stepped around the corner of the door frame, a hand pressed to his eye, rubbing it with a frown on his face.

"What's the ruckus about, Lucy? It's not even noon yet." He said groggily and dropped his arm to rub his other eye with his other hand.

"I'm taking Lisanna home." She said and bent down to sling one of her arms around her own neck and help the girl walk. When Lisanna was leaning heavily on Lucy she turned to Gray again.

"How much do you remember from yesterday?" She asked. Gray shrugged.

"Most of it." He said and Lucy nodded. "Why?" He asked and grinned. "Got laid?" His grin faltered as it seemed to hurt his face and he rubbed it with a hand. Lucy nodded again and sighed.

"It seems so." She said and Gray looked up at her with raised eyebrows. Lisanna stirred on Lucy's arm but seemed to out of it to respond. "I can't remember with whom though." She met Gray's eyes and saw him swallow and shake his head carefully.

"Well, I lost track of you around three but at the time you were dancing with Natsu… well…" Lucy cut him off.

"I danced with Natsu?" Gray opened his mouth to respond but at that moment Natsu walked through the arch that led into the living area. He was grinning and Lucy's heart made an unexpected summersault. She frowned.

"I danced?" Natsu said, he looked around frowning slightly, his eyes lingering on Lucy's. Then he thrust his fists into the air and grinned again.

"And I didn't give anyone nightmares! Score!" Lucy frowned. She didn't remember dancing with Natsu. She remembered the shot off his stomach. A small smile crept onto her lips as she did, along with a faint blush; that had been fun. It was still strange that she had been drunk enough to black out and not be hung over. She should be in a state similar to Lisanna's. Lucy looked at her but she seemed to be completely out of it and hung heavily over her shoulder. Really the only thing that kept her upright was the hold Lucy had on her arm.

Gray cleared his throat and Natsu let his arms flop to his side, still grinning.

"As I was saying, you disappeared around three and showed up about two hours later. You hair had come loose but other than that you were fine. You told me you were going to sleep sometime around five but you were talking to Loki an hour later. You dragged him off somewhere and that's the last time I saw you before now." She hadn't slept with Loke, Lucy was sure of that much. Loke was head over heels for Aries and far too loyal. Besides, she was sure she didn't want to sleep with Loke and usually her drunken and sober selves agreed on such things. Although it had always been for fun, he had flirted with her plenty and she had always rejected him. Loki was a good guy if with a little bit of a perverse humour.

She must have slept with her mystery lover just around three then. Two hours were plenty to be thoroughly screwed. No wonder she was sore.

She forced a smile.

"Thanks Gray, that helps a lot." She said and pulled Lisanna higher up on her shoulder. She had definitely passed out and Lucy sighed and resigned herself to carry Lisanna all the way home. Before she turned away she grinned at Natsu and Gray.

"Great party last night." She said and the two men mirrored her grin. Natsu's grin spread from ear to ear, his hair hung in his eyes and it look even more tousled than it had the night before.

Lucy crouched then and the top half of Lisanna fall over her back before she straightened again. Or tried to straighten. Her legs shook at the strain. Had last day's workout taken that much toll on her legs or was it the roll in the hay that had done it?. She tried again, pushing against the floor all she could but even if she got Lisanna onto her shoulders there was no way she would be able to carry her home.

Natsu came to her rescue then. He lifted Lisanna with ease by the waist and slung her over his shoulder. In his arms she didn't even look heavy. Lucy blushed but didn't want to refuse his help. She could have carried her if it wasn't for her shaky legs. She blamed her mystery lover, just because she could.

Carefully they stepped over debris from last night's party mostly consisting of confetti, popped champagne poppers, bottles and glasses, one or the other shoe and on or the other body of an unconscious guest. The double doors stood open letting in fresh air and letting out the alcohol, sweat and vomit smell inside. Only when Lucy was outside did she realized how horrible it actually had been.

Since Natsu was doing the heavy lifting (although it didn't seem heavy to him) Lucy's thoughts went back to Gray's words. Mainly the ones about her and Natsu dancing. Never in her sober mind did she think she would have the guts to dance with him at a party. She knew how she danced at parties and it was not the innocent kind. Then again, she didn't really mind, did she? She felt no shame about it, no blush on her cheeks, no regret. She wished she remembered it but other than that there was mostly a soft fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach. That made her blush.

As they walked in silence Lucy wondered with increasing intensity why Natsu had gotten quiet all of the sudden. It couldn't be that he had to concentrate on keeping Lisanna from falling down, he had lifted her up like a rag doll. But when it hit her, there was no way she could stop neither the blush nor the words tumbling out of her mouth.

"So Natsu, what do you do one your spare time? I mean I know you're a fighter, although I've never actually seen you fight. People say you're amazing though and always knock the other guy out. You must be really good to go undefeated for so long. I heard even Prof. Clive lost a few battles… I usually read when I'm at home. Though that doesn't happen too often, too much dancing you know…" When she looked at Natsu and her words struck a wall in her throat while her face flushed bright red. Even her forced smile fell. He frowned at her and his nose was slightly wrinkled. Basically, he looked like a question mark.

"You talk a lot." He said and Lucy looked away with a burning faced huff

"Shut up, only when I'm nervous." She mumbled but at this Natsu perked up.

"Why would you be nervous? We're friends." Lucy scoffed at him

"Because, we've never really talked just the two of us." She said still in an undertone. Natsu lifted his head up and seemed to think about it. All the while he thought Lucy cringed. The silence was excruciating. Campus came into view and with it the two adjacent buildings for girls' and boys' dorm rooms. Lucy sighed.

"Sure, we've known each other for over a year since I started Fiore Academy but every time I've seen you someone else has been there too. It's never been the two of us. I even hang out with Erza more than you and you were the one who introduced us!" Natsu humpfed and Lucy frowned at him. Then he grinned.

"You're right Lucy." He said and slung his hand over her shoulder. "We should change that." Lucy looked at him wide-eyed, her face red again. The pit of her stomach fluttered. Her eyes moved to Lisanna who was sliding down Natsu's arm. She was just about to point it out when Natsu hitched her further up onto his shoulder.

"I don't think that's such a good idea…" Lucy began but Natsu grinned at her and hitched Lisanna up his shoulder again.

"Don't worry, it's totally…" By the look on his face, Lucy assumed that Lisanna had indeed thrown up on him, just as she was afraid of. "Fine…"

Footsteps behind her told Lucy that Natsu was done in the shower and he entered her room. Lucy had her nose in the closet and rummaged, still in her outfit from last night.

"I'm really sorry Natsu … I simply don't have anything big enough that could fit you." She said holding up a pair of her biggest sweatpants but to his tall frame, they weren't big at all. She put them back without looking behind her at Natsu, knowing he would be half naked.

"Don't you have any shorts?" He asked. His tone was still dark with annoyance. Lucy searched and rummaged for a while before she came up with her largest shorts, turned to him and measured them in the air to his figure. They probably wouldn't even go over his knees, they were so tight.

"I mean I do have my dancing pants that are really stretchy but…" She didn't even have to say it.

"I'm not wearing tights."

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed and let her arms with her shorts drop. Her retort whisked into smoke when she saw what a fantastic view she had. His chest was wet and hot and steam swirled off his square shoulders and that was the least amazing thing. Lucy had seen his abs the night before but she had been drunk and it was nothing compared to the complete package seen by her sober eyes.

He held the towel with a fist to his hip, low at his hip, she could nearly see a curl or two of his pubic hair. With a blush she wondered if it would be pink too. The V shaped indents by his hip bones nearly came together just under the edge of the towel. His abs were perfect and stray droplets from his hair traced wet lines along the ripples of his muscles or seemed to evaporate where they fell. His chest was no less remarkable. Free of hair his pecks matched his abs in shape and size. They completed the picture of his washboard front. His arms complimented him even more and were not at all what she thought they would be. They were slender yet strong enough to lift a person with ease. He wasn't bulky, he was simply strong. His black eyes were fixed on Lucy's and a sly grin spread over his lips when their eyes met. Lucy blushed bright red, stuffed her short back in her drawer and slammed it shut with a loud bang then rushed out past him.

"I'll see if Lisanna has anything to offer." She said in a hurry when she passed him.

Lisanna lay on the couch in the living room still passed out. Lucy had taken her weight once she had thrown up and carried her up the two flights of stairs while Natsu had mumbled and grumbled like a storm behind her. She didn't blame him of course and had immediately sent him into the bathroom on the opposite side of the living room viewed from their bedrooms. To the right was the kitchen, to the left the front door. Their two room next to each other. (From the front door: bedrooms to the right, bathroom to the left and kitchen beyond the living room.)

Lucy hurried into Lisanna's room and pushed her entire face into the wardrobe to the right. The cool fabric did little to soften her burning face but at least it helped her rummage through the piles of clothes. And most of all, it kept Natsu from seeing her red face. Time and time again she seemed to have the same problem as with her own wardrobe though; their clothes were too tight for a man like Natsu to wear.

Eventually Natsu came in to stand and watch her search and after another moment he seemed fed up and sighed and walked up to her. Lucy ignored him.

"Just give me your shirt and I'll wear that and my boxers home. It's not like it's far." He said and stuck a finger inside Lucy's top. The finger slightly brushed her waist. She stiffened, but not because it tickled. Slowly he pulled at the fabric coming dangerously close to revealing her bare chest. She straightened to reverse the process.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a loud voice and wide eyes.

"Just give me your shirt so I can go home." He tugged harder on the fabric. Lucy's eyes widened even further and she slapped his hand away.

"I can't give you this shirt!" She said and wrapped her arms around her chest.

"Why not? You're a dancer, you wear nothing but a bra plenty of times." He said and made to hook a finger in her top again. Lucy took a step back, almost landing her in the closet.

"B-but I'm not w-wearing a bra." She stuttered and planted her feet firmly on the floor so she wouldn't actually fall. With one hand she grabbed some clothes behind her, steadying her at least a bit more. It took a while before Natsu understood the implication of his request then he blushed and said:

"Oh…" and fought a small grin off his face. Lucy glared at him.

"Out!" She pointed at the door, a hand still covered her chest. Natsu didn't move with his eyes firmly planted on her chest. She slapped his still outstretched hand.

"Get out or I won't give you your clothes back!" She yelled and nearly threw a pair of socks at him. Grinning Natsu left the room and through Lucy's sudden anger she could only somewhat gawk at his perfectly sculpted back. Lucy let her anger simmer for a while but soon resumed rummaging through Lisanna's wardrobe. Eventually she actually did find something that would fit Natsu, only, the sweatpants and shirt looked a mysteriously lot like prof. Laxus Dreyar's, the swimming teacher. Lucy frowned. Lisanna would have some explaining to do. Since it was either this or something that would have people ask him what kind of fun he'd had the night before, she took both and gave them to Natsu. He still grinned when Lucy handed him the clothes but seemed to have the decency not to swagger when he walked to the bathroom to change. At the same time, he didn't seem to be the kind to swagger much anyway and Lucy appreciated the fact.

Only when she heard the click of the lock did she turn to her own room to change her clothing. She settled in a blue and white striped top and white shorts and put her hair in a bun to the right of her head. By the time she was done Natsu was already waiting for her in the living room and his eyes immediately settled on her chest. She looked down. Was her shirt dirty? No. Her boobs weren't that visible either. Not enough to make Natsu of all people stare, he never stared. Lucy looked back up.

"What?" She asked. Natsu grinned and nodded at her chest.

"Who did you do last night?" He asked. Lucy's eyes snapped back down and when she saw nothing she moved past the sofas, coffee table and armchair to the bathroom to check the mirror. He couldn't have seen the hickey on her neck, it was covered by her hair and besides, he hadn't been looking at her neck. Well in the bathroom she checked the mirror and blushed when she saw the bright red mark just over her collarbone. It must have been hidden behind her hair that morning, she hadn't seen it before. Natsu came up behind her, his arms crossed over his chest and he lazily leaned against the doorframe. Lucy had to admit he even looked good in Laxus' large black shirt and grey sweatpants even if the lanky look didn't really fit him. Loose pants were one thing, but the oversized style didn't work for him.

"So who is the lucky guy?" He asked, an amused smile on his lips but Lucy saw that his eyes weren't completely committed. Lucy hesitated. Not that she claimed to know Natsu very well, but to her it seemed that her sleeping with someone bothered him. She also felt the blush creep onto her cheeks again. Why was she suddenly embarrassed? Never before had she been embarrassed about a roll in the hay with a stranger. She looked away and inspected the hickey again.

"I… I don't know. I don't remember." She said. Natsu frowned.

"What, he didn't stick around 'til morning?!" Lucy shook her head and kept her eyes on the hickey. She felt strange. It wasn't like her to have her heart thumping for telling someone about some meaningless drunken sex. She didn't even remember it, it meant nothing and it wasn't like her to blush so profoundly. What was wrong with her? Was she coming down with a cold?

"Bastard! What did he look like? What me to kick his ass? I'll kick his ass for not treating you right." Lucy heard a smacking sound and assumed he had punched the flat of his hand again. Lucy looked away and shook his head. Why on earth was her heart fluttering so much, it never fluttered so much! Lisanna might be right when she said Lucy liked Natsu, but that had never stopped her from enjoying herself on occasion and it had definitely never made her feel ashamed. So why did it now?

Lucy looked at Natsu and bit her lip.

"No use. I don't remember anything about him." She said though that was mostly a lie. She did remember his touch and the feel against his skin. His kisses as they traced over her skin. The steady hold he had on her when he penetrated her over and over.

Lucy blushed and looked away.

"So why are you trying to find him? Want a rematch?" Natsu grinned again. That was a good question. Maybe if she found him she could figure out why she was feeling this way. She didn't regret it, that was for sure. Only, by the hardness in Natsu's eyes she felt as though she had betrayed him for some reason, which was crazy! They barely knew each other!

Lucy forcefully pushed the thought away. Happiness would never embarrass her! She glared at Natsu, ignoring her blush, forcing it away with a convincing look. Or so she hoped.

"I want to find him so I can figure out if I should go 'damn I was drunk' or 'hey, we should do that again sometime'." Natsu didn't waver from her gaze. She hated that she felt the need to explain herself and she forced that thought away too. She was a free woman. Sex was something free women did!

A groan came from the couch behind them and both Natsu and Lucy turned to see Lisanna's hand stretch above the back of the couch facing towards them, waving slightly as if trying to get their attention.

"You should say the first, 'cause damn you were drunk. Why aren't you hung over? And why are we yelling?" Lucy walked over to Lisanna, again she was careful not to touch Natsu's shoulder when she passed him, and reached out to feel Lisanna's forehead. Lisanna squirmed under her touch. She was still cold and clammy.

"We aren't yelling, you're just hung over. I don't know why I'm not, Natsu could be a god for all I know, but thank goodness, that way I can take over your dance lessons tonight. Trade as always?" Lisanna nodded and held out her first for Lucy to bump. A prickling sensation at the back of her neck told her that Natsu was staring at her. She ignored him but wondered if it was a good or a bad stare. Then again she didn't know what either would mean, and shook her head softly.

"Do you need anything Lisanna?" She asked. Lisanna shook her head, hesitated and croaked:

"A bucket." Lucy nodded and hurried to get her one but by the time she returned Lisanna was already fast asleep again. Lucy sighed and put the bucket where she could reach it, then turned to Natsu who was still staring at her.

"What?!" She snapped, her voice hard as a whip. Natsu was wide-eyed and looked pleasantly surprised. His hair was drying up and springing up on its own accord. It seems the night no one had drawn their hands through his hair the night before, it looked that way naturally. It reminded her though that she should change Lisanna's clothes before she left. Then Natsu grinned and distracted her.

"Did you just call me a god?" He said. Lucy scowled and blushed at her offhand comment that he wasn't supposed to hear.

"No." She practically growled and turned away to stomp into the kitchen. Natsu followed her with his arms crossed over his chest and a grin plastered on his face. He didn't comment on her red face and Lucy quietly started to prepare a broth for Lisanna and some food for her and Natsu. Natsu still had to wait for his clothes that were in the wash and she might as well feed him while he waited. She would make something simple though - mac-and-cheese.

The kitchen, like the bathroom was tiled white all around. Lucy and Lisanna had been lucky to get a kitchen at all since only a handful of the dorm rooms had them. Most of the students had to share a kitchen further down the hall. Lucy wasn't sure why they had a kitchen but she wasn't about to question it. It contained everything they needed after all along with a kitchen table and matching chairs in the middle of it all. They'd had to buy plates and cutlery when they moved in though but they had managed to find some cheap ones at a flea-market. Although nothing really matched it gave the kitchen a thrown together, comfy soft of feel and at least it, compared to most of the school was decently warm.

After a while of silence while Lucy pointedly ignored Natsu's gaze he shifted, scratching his chin and moved closer. At this Lucy turned. Natsu looked rather embarrassed with his arm lifted, scratching his neck and a small smile on his lips. Even a faint blush traced his tanned skin.

"Say Lucy… What do you remember from last night?" He asked carefully. She looked at him but saw the man she had slept with. She blushed.

"Not much…" She hesitated. "I danced most of the night. I saw Aries and Loke talking. Erza and Jellal headed upstairs when I came, I think they spent the rest of the night there. I danced with Juvia a while in too. I drank a lot and a lot of people did belly-shots on me…"

"Oh yeah I remember doing one too, that was fun." He grinned, the shyness suddenly gone. He didn't seem to remember that it was her he had done the belly-shot off of. Maybe it didn't matter to him.

"Gray said we danced. I must have blacked out somewhere around then and after that I just remember bits and pieces, none of them really make any sense." She looked at him, wondering if he remembered anything about the dancing. He had been surprised earlier that morning. If he remembered, would he tell her?

"I don't remember any dancing." He said but he blushed and scratched his neck again. "It must have been pretty horrible." He looked away. Lucy didn't believe him.

Lucy sighed and looked at the clock that hung on the wall. She had two hours to get ready for dance class so without further ado she dished up the mac-and-cheese for her and Natsu and handed him a plate. He immediately took it and started eating. Well, more like devouring or inhaling the food. He ate with loud noises of breath munch and satisfied hums as it disappeared into his mouth in quick succession. Lucy was amazed at that although he ate with such vigor not one drop of food spilled.

Lucy sat down on the opposite side of him and ate from her own bowl though not as fast as Natsu and with her feet tucked up on the chair as well. By the time he was done, she hadn't even gotten half way and he grinned and offered to see if Lisanna was awake and in need of anything. Natsu went into the living room for a moment and came back to pick up the broth still simmering on the stove. Carefully he carried the pot to the sink where he poured it into a bowl. He held the pot as far away from his body as his arms would reach. Lucy forced herself not to laugh at him and stuffed her mouth so full with food she had to keep her mouth tightly closed as to not spill. That way laughing was impossible.

When Natsu picked the bowl up he looked as if it was filled to the brim, which it wasn't. And he carried it as though it was some sort of flammable liquid that would combust if he so much as breathed on it. When he was out of sight and Lucy had swallowed her large mouthful of food, she giggled softly and listened to the murmurs of

"Thanks"

"Blow on it, it's hot."

"Shit that hot!"

"I told you!"

"How can you hold it? Put it down!"

It seemed that Lisanna was feeling considerably better.

Lucy let Natsu and Lisanna talk in peace for a while as she did the dishes and had a glass of water. She looked at the time. 2.30. Classes started at 4 but she wanted to get there beforehand to rehearse and warm up.

With the dishes clean she went into her room to change. What did Lisanna teach on Saturdays again? Was it contemporary or Ballet? No matter, she would bring both, find out at the school and rehearse the other when classes were done.

Soon she stepped out of her room dressed in black tight leggings and a pale blue top. Over her arm hung a waist long shirt that would be more suitable for contemporary. She also brought a change of clothing for Lisanna thinking she might want to change out of last night's things. In her bag by the door was everything else she needed for dancing. A towel, a change of clothes, Jazz shoes, one pair of ballet shoes hung by the window (She had more ready to use in her closet). She also had a few CDs stored in her bag in case she needed something special.

When Lucy stepped into view behind Natsu at the short end of the sofa Lisanna looked up beyond him. She still looked as though she hadn't slept for days with pale and clammy looking skin and circles under her eyes but she looked much better form that morning. The headache in her eyes seemed to have lifted and she looked more alert. Natsu had even tucked a blanket around her. That was considerate of him.

"I'm heading out now. Will you be alright?" She said. Before Lisanna could answer Natsu turned to face her and spoke up.

"I can stay and watch over her if you want." He offered. Lucy looked at Lisanna. Sure she would receive and mouthed comment about his words of niceness but apparently she hadn't completely gone back to her normal self yet.

"I don't mind, it's up to you." Lucy said, part of her relieved that someone would be watching over her friend, the other part wondering jealousy why he wanted to stay. She told herself it would be for Lisanna's best and suppressed that second part of her with all her might. Lisanna squinted at Lucy and Natsu a couple of times then closed her eyes and nodded.

"I won't be much company though." She told Natsu who shrugged and grinned at Lucy.

"I can make you some tea, you'll feel better in no time." He said with a devilish glint in his eyes. They didn't have a kettle. Lucy leaned down and pointed a warning finger at him.

"Don't you dare burn down my kitchen." She said with a glint in her own eye. She was serious of course but with that smile of his she couldn't keep her face completely composed. Natsu's grin only widened and managed to look both innocent and devilish at the same time. She held her finger pointed at him for another moment then turned to Lisanna.

"Before I go… Why do you have Laxus' clothes in your closet?" She kept her voice even making the question sound accusatory, the effect was immediate. Lisanna looked away and went bright red and she crossed her arms tight over her chest. Natsu looked confused and Lucy wondered how long it would take for him to figure that he was wearing prof. Dreyar's clothes. Lucy was unable to keep her straight face again though and laughed which made Lisanna's face redden even more.

"You'd better tell me when I get home." She said and waved at the two of them as she headed out, a smile of her face.

* * *

><p>Campus of Fiore Academy consisted of five buildings. Alpha, Beta, two dorm halls and training halls. Beta contained most of the competition halls, except for the ones outside like beach volley ball. Alpha was for normal classes that they (Lucy, Levi and Lisanna in their second year) had Monday and Wednesday afternoons. The training halls and Beta were the closest to the three story dorm halls and stretched out to each side for quite a bit, large as they were. Girls to the left, boys to the right. Training to the right, competition to the left. Beyond that was Alpha forming the inner campus onto a triangle. Around these five buildings were several outdoor courts and around them a track for long distance running.<p>

Between the training halls, Alpha and Beta was a small park consisting of a patch of flowers and a few trees and a bench. Noone used them and they were mostly decorative. Sometimes, when Lucy was in a hurry to class it was mostly annoying since she had to walk around it.

The path between training halls and dorm rooms was nearly never used. It was easier to go straight across the grass than around and in from the side with the path. It could have looked esthetically good if the grass hadn't been trampled away but no one really bothered to make sure the grass came back,

At school Lucy entered through a side door that was closest to the dance hall corridor. It was a bit off to the right but it was better than to walk through corridor after corridor just to get to the right one. She knew this path well, she spent every day in those halls and they were almost like a second home to her. Every weekend Fiore Academy held classes for children taught by those who went to the school. It was a good merit and it was lucky that Lucy had been chosen to hold the ballet class on Sundays and even luckier that Lisanna had been chosen for contemporary on Saturdays. (It said so on the pinboard hung where the dance hallway became the common area that lead to other hallways for other sports.) The entire hall held 6 dance halls but it was only the one at the very end to the left that had a glass wall. It was also the one used for dance classes on weekends.

Lucy took out a note that said 'Due to an illness, Lucy Heartfilia will be teaching today's class instead of Lisanna Strauss.' It wouldn't change any of the dancing since she and Lisanna knew all of each other's dance routines for just such occasions as that day and the children had come to see them both as their teachers.

Lucy stepped into the dance hall at the right corner, turned on the lights and rummaged in the CD stand next to the stereo for some music to her liking, plugged it in and started her warm-up. It was a simple routine really. She started off running a couple of laps so she was left breathing harder. Then she did a few rounds of sit-ups, crunches, leg-ups, side-crunches, push-ups and back lifts until her body was fire-y and stinging comfortably. Then she stretched, split her legs both ways (one in front one in back and both in opposite ways to the side). She stretched her arms, belly and back until the sting was gone and by the time she was done the children were collecting at the door, waiting to be ushered inside.

She waved them in and within moments class had begun.

The parent's usually stayed behind the glass-wall to watch over the children although a few always insisted on sitting inside the room. Lucy never argued with them although she knew not all children were comfortable with the idea. Others wanted their parent's inside too but there were only so many chairs and most parents didn't want to sit on the floor. It was the reason why classes were held in the room with the windows; so parents could watch over their children in case something happened without being in the way and breathing down Lucy's neck. It was understandable, the children were after all 7-8 years old and the parents were being protective. Lucy was used to it and the stares that watched over her every move when she taught a class, and she had long since learned to block the stares out.

Lucy liked teaching dance class. The gleeful children made her think of the time when she herself had only just started to dance. Her eyes too had been brimming with stars as she clumsily tried to copy the teacher's elegant movements. She remembered how she could never really figure out how they did it and never really manage to do exactly what they did. She remembered several frustrated outbreaks when her body hadn't done what she wanted it to do and she had wanted to punch something or someone, mostly herself.

Then her mother had died and her father grown distant and cold and the only thing thing she had left was her dancing. It had had kept her from running away for a time, then she had been accepted into Fiore Academy of Sports and leaving her father was no longer 'running away'. For years before that day had come she trained hour after hour to be good enough to attend the school. It was after all a place where only the best athletes were made and learned from only the best in the field. So she trained every day, willing her body to move more fluently, more gracefully and more like that of her teachers. Eventually she did figure it out and she did get into FAS and moved away from her father for good. At Fiore Academy she knew she would become the best to her ability and that was all she ever wanted.

When class was over, the children had all left and the few parents who wanted to speak to her had done so she went to her bad by the door and took out her ballet shoes. She hung them over her neck and went to the bars by the mirror to do a quick warm-up of her ankles and feet. The bars led all the way around the hall but she liked being close to the mirror and this particular room only had one wall of mirrors.

She was halfway through her little routine when she felt that prickling sensation at the back of her neck and as she had done all afternoon she ignored it, thinking it was a stray adult waiting for a child to finish in the bathroom or something. She put one of her feet upside down on the ground so the top of her foot were pressed against the floor and pushed down softly to stretch it out. Then she put her toe big to the floor and drew circles over it with her ankle. At that moment someone stepped inside and before she could turn to see who it was, the person had reached her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Oh my god, Lucy, are you alright." She blinked and found Natsu staring worriedly at her. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. Her mouth slipped open and she marveled at that he was still warmer than her after she had been dancing for three hours.

"Natsu. I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" She said and searched his black eyes as he took a step back looking confused.

"You're feet, they're bent the wrong way! And that movement… I always do that when I've hurt my foot." Lucy smiled and resisted the urge to put her hand to her cheek.

"This is part of my warm up." She said but still Natsu looked worried as she changed foot. He cringed as she put weight on it and looked away.

"Why are you here?" She looked up, suddenly worried. "Is Lisanna alright?" Natsu smiled.

"She's fine. She told me to leave 'cause she wanted to sleep and I came here to keep my promise of hanging out more." His smile turned to a grin that made her blush. She finished her warm-up in silence, Natsu flinched several times as her ankle bent in to him unnatural angles. Then it was time for her shoes. She knew Natsu had been looking at them and she lifted them from around her head and held them out to him to inspect.

"They don't look very comfortable." He poked the hard toe. "Why do you need shoes like these? I've never seen anyone dance in shoes like these." He said and straightened when Lucy sat down on the floor to strap them onto her feet. She had already brought out her toe-protection. She taped a few of her toes and draped a rubber thingy over her big and second toe. Then she covered it with a padded slipper before strapping the shoes tightly on. Natsu watched her carefully and she hoped he didn't see the hardened skin on her feet. Most non-dancers who saw feet like those cringed at the damaged looking ligaments and skin. He didn't comment on it though and when the shoes were strapped on she went to the bars again and did a few more warm-ups.

After another moment of his intent gaze on her she turned to him.

"Wanna see me dance in these shoes?" She asked and smiled. Natsu nodded but looked worried again. Lucy pointed at the inbuilt stereo by the door.

"Hit play." She said and slowly Natsu obeyed.

Haunting string plaid over the room and Lucy started to move, dancing a routine that was so close to her heart it fluttered with joy. She loved to dance this particular routine and probably did it more than she really needed. It always made her completely forget her surroundings. It was ever only her, the floor, her feet and the music. Once she danced that routine, she forgot that Natsu was in the room watching her. She didn't even care if he was.

She spun in blinding pirouettes and threw up legs that made them look twice as long as their original length. She moved over her pointe toe with ease and felt a liberating sensation as she could elongate her extension even further. With her pointe shoes she felt as though she could do anything, move any-which-way. Her legs moved as easily as her arms as she spun and twirled, she jumped and finally, she danced as hard as she would in any performance.

The music was about to end and Lucy came into the final blinding pirouette. She held her stomach in and knew in her bones that she would never wobble and never stray or be off beat in this routine. She was part of it. And when the final beat of the music hit, her foot came down and stopped abruptly and steadily and perfectly.

She opened her eyes, she had forgotten that she had closed them and she smiled a private smile on her lips. She met her own brown eyes in the mirror and let herself come out of that final posture to stand in second and do a few stretches and pliés.

Then she heard movement behind her and turned around. She blushed as she saw Natsu there. She had forgotten about him and was suddenly embarrassed to have him see such an intimate routine. Now that she was finished dancing it was almost as if he had watched her shower and she felt nearly naked in front of him.

Natsu stared at her. His face was slightly pale and at the same time a soft blush played on his cheeks. He didn't have a single expression under the blush though. His face was stoically clear of any emotion. Lucy wasn't sure if she should be glad that he respected her intimate dancing enough to keep away from it or if she wanted him to comment on her dancing, say anything. Before she could decide on anything though the music started again and the combination of string and piano had her moving again and soon she forgot her surroundings and limitations again. This time though, she kept Natsu in her thoughts. His black shirt from last night had been replaced by a purple one and black pants underneath, his white scarf as always hung around his neck. He looked good this way, he looked comfortable.

Lucy dances softer this time. Her movements were of that of a child idly swinging her dress as to move instead of standing still. It was harder to dance that way, but it was magnificent. She pulled at her legs in develoupés and attitudes and all the other things she could do as she lifted her legs in different ways and twirled and spun like a child simply turning for the sake of turning. She forgot that she was earthbound and jumped across the floor and glided so softly she could have been mistaken for a ghost. Her toes pointed and took her weight with little complaint and she always remembered that Natsu was there. It didn't keep her from pouring her heart into her dancing. She didn't care that Natsu watched her, it wasn't for him that she danced, it was for herself.

Lucy danced for about two hours. At first, whenever the music stopped would turn to Natsu and see if he had anything to say. When he didn't she simply continued to dance and soon she found herself rehearse a few routines she needed for dance class, a few of which she wasn't even all together certain about. If she needed to start over, she signaled Natsu and he would obligedly turn the music back a few moments and she could try again. She even slipped her pointe shoes off after some time and rehearsed some contemporary and all the while Natsu watched her with a straight face, blending into the wall.

By the time she was done, her face was bright red and she panted hard. Her body felt comfortably worked and she felt the stinging in her legs that she loved. When she looked at Natsu she found that he too was blushing and was yet again scratching his neck nervously. Lucy walked over to him and picked the CD out of the stereo giving him time to recover from whatever thought had suddenly made him blush. She could feel his eyes on her however, the prickling at the back of her neck was intense but she ignored it while she fumbled and panted and recovered.

When she stood back up and went to retrieve her pointe shoes Natsu cleared his throat and with her shoes in her hand Lucy turned to him. He was blushing again and didn't speak. Lucy walked over to him and her pack and took out her towel and a sweater that she knew she'd need once they left the room. Though the fan was spewing cold and refreshing air, she knew it wasn't good to cool down too quickly. Natsu cleared his throat again and Lucy came to stand in front of him. He scratched his neck again and laughed.

"That… that wasn't the way we danced yesterday."

Lucy blushed but didn't say anything. She tied the ribbons of her pointe shoes together and hung them across her neck and drank some water. Her face burned but it didn't show under her flush. She looked at him while she drank wanting him to go on. After all, she didn't remember anything of any use. Natsu looked away.

"The way you danced just now…" He hesitated and his blush deepened. He was adorable when he blushed. Lucy frowned, a faint memory told her that she had told him that once already. "… it made me remember." He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple danced in his throat. He met her eyes briefly. "It was different."

Lucy nodded. She could imagine that it had been different; the way she usually danced with someone at parties mainly consisted of grinding anyway. Compared to the perfection of ballet (not that she would call herself perfect, just the dance style as such) they might as well have done a horizontal dance.

Lucy bent and picked up her pack and went to the door, opened it and Natsu followed her outside. The corridor was indeed cold and quickly she pulled the sweater on. They walked along the dark corridors in silence. All dance classes were over and she was apparently the last to leave school. That wasn't all that unusual.

Once they were outside though Natsu turned to her.

"Aren't you gonna say anything?" He asked, the blush reappearing. Lucy cringed inwardly feeling that embarrassed need to explain herself again. What was there to explain though? She had apparently wanted to dance with him and he had danced with her, there was nothing strange about that… Unless they had danced in some very strange way. In that case, Lucy didn't really know what she would say to defend herself.

"Natsu... I don't remember us dancing." She said. Which was true, she didn't remember their actual dancing though she could imagine what it probably looked and felt like. Natsu looked away and bit his lip a moment and they walked towards the dorm rooms.

"It was like… our hips…" He hesitated. "You were rubbing…" Lucy blinked at him and bit her lip. Before he could say anything else she snapped.

"Natsu!" With wide eyes. He looked at her. "I'm pretty sure I know what kind of dancing it was." She said and thanked goodness for the darkness that hid her blush. Natsu's eyes widened and stopped. Lucy did too.

"You said you don't remember." He protested.

"I don't, but I know how I dance at parties." She looked away and pulled at a strand of hair. She didn't want to look at his handsome face. At the same time she yearned for his closeness like she had done the night before. Only now she had the restraint not to act on her aching coldness. Slowly Natsu started to move again. His movements were stiff though. It wasn't his usual smooth walk. He usually walked like the most elegant creature in the forest. Like a stag or a dragon if they'd exist. It made Lucy wonder what was on his mind.

They arrived at the building for Lucy's dorms. Natsu wasn't allowed inside at the late hour anymore and he hadn't needed to walk her all the way there. It was only a few hundred of meters from her own door to his but she didn't want to send him away.

After a moment of silence as they stood in the light of the entrance Lucy forced herself to smile. The night lady stood on the other side of the glass window daring Natsu to try and sneak inside with Lucy, as if that was possible. If Natsu wanted to sneak inside he would have to climb the walls.

"Thanks for the company." Lucy said and Natsu smiled shyly too.

"Your dancing was amazing." He said and his smile brightened. Then a blush crept onto his cheeks again and he looked away again. "Your dancing yesterday was amazing too." He looked up bright red in his entire face. "We should do it again sometime." He grinned at her and left her speechless at the door.


	4. Sunday, girl talk

**A/N: Hey everyone! I tried something new this time and had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you enjoy it too and as always tell me if you do or don't =) Another authors note at the bottom, see you there. =D**

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><p>Sunday<p>

Girl talk

As Natsu had said Lisanna had gone to bed and was sound asleep when Lucy came in to check on her. Lucy's face was still burning red from Natsu's words of 'We should do that again sometimes' and she couldn't, for the life of her, get them out of her head. He wanted to dance with her again. Not just that, he wanted to have her grin against him again. She barely knew what had made her dance that way with him in the first place.

No… that was a lie and she knew it. She always wanted to dance with him. Had he been a dancer she would have practiced day and night for a chance to be paired with him. Now that he wasn't, she apparently needed to find other ways to dance with him.

What was more; she couldn't get the image of his grin out of her mind. Even his stoic expression when he had watched her dance seemed to haunt her. It distracted her when she stepped into the shower. His grin had always made her heart flutter but in connection with his strong statuere it was as if her heartstrings were being tickled. That grin of his was one of the many things she liked about him. She imagined it to be just as free as she felt when she danced, like he could fly if only that smile would carry him and as if, with a smile on his face, no one could defeat him.

For some reason she kept adding that face to that tall and muscular body she had slept with. Natsu was tall and muscular as she had seen earlier that day but she was pretty sure that it wasn't him. At least, there was nothing pointing either towards it or towards anyone else.

In the hot shower as she soaped her body and ran her fingers over the hickies the stranger had left she imagined a head of pink hair moving over her skin, kissing and sucking at it and she wanted to throw her head back and moan. She wanted to be there again, feel the sensations that had run through her the night before, only she wanted to be conscious and know who it was and feel what he did to her so she could remember it.

Without really thinking about it she felt her own hand move down to her lady-parts and with a finger she felt that she was soaked. Oh, what that boy did to her. She flicked her finger of her clit and remembered the feel of his tongue on it. The memory alone almost did the trick. Although she didn't remember anything else but the feel of the stranger's tongue moving around her bundle of nerves and as she kept flicking her finger over her sensitive nub over and over it was the stranger's actions she saw and felt. A finger slipped into her folds and she felt that she was still sore from last night. The body above her that had pushed inside her and fit inside her so perfectly was so warm, she wanted to hold onto it forever. She frowned as she flicked and felt the tension build up in her lower stomach. A gasp escaped her mouth as she flicked her finger fast and moved a finger slowly in and out of her folds. She remembered having that thought before, about someone being warm, who had it been?

All thought was blown out of her mind as the tension in her stomach built to a delicious high and her finger flicked as if there was no tomorrow. Another soft gasp escaped her mouth and with a few more flicks she gasped and bent forward and pressed her whole hand against her throbbing folds. Her head was under the steady stream of water, still hot on her body. She stood there for a moment before the image of Natsu popped up in her head again, his grin, his body, sexy as he was. She blushed although she was alone. The thought of him warmed her more than the water ever could and dimly she wished that he had been the mystery lover.

While she had him in her mind though, she knew that he wasn't a relationship type of guy. She'd never seen her with one particular girl, in fact, she hadn't seen him with a girl at all. A sudden thought of that he might be gay rushed through her mind but she reminded herself that if he was, he probably wouldn't have enjoyed her dance with him, not that kind of dancing, with his hands probably on her.

She shook her head. It was about time she got out of the shower. She rinsed quickly and turned off the hot water, wrapped a towel around her and went to the kitchen to grab a bowl of yoghurt. She nearly threw it down and shook her head repeatedly to stop thinking about the devilish, handsome, strong and kind man that she did want, no matter how much she denied it or denied herself to do anything about it. It was not something she would think about, she told herself. At least not again that night.

Mentally exhausted she fell into her bed a short while later. She felt better for sure but as she lay still on her bed letting her mind drift, she landed on Natsu and the man from last night and she had to make an effort to push the image away. She really didn't need a really need a real event to connect her already dirty thoughts of Natsu.

The next morning Lucy woke up at noon. Lisanna would already be teaching classes. Come to think of it, dance class would be over soon. Would she stay and rehearse as Lucy always did? Lucy reached for her phone on the bed-side table and as she looked at her arm she realized she had forgotten to put on any pajamas, damn. Although it didn't bother her while she was asleep, waking up naked wasn't one of her favorite things in the world. She grabbed her phone and flipped it open. 4 messages.

From: Lisanna Received: 9.15

Wake-y Wake-y 3

From: Juvia Received: 8.30

Juvia just heard from Lisanna. Juvia will help Lucy prepare dinner. Coming at 3

From: Erza Received: 8.00

Coming over for dinner. Bringing wine and cake. Levy just told me what happened.

From: Levy Received: 5.30

I just slept with Gajeel

Yes, tonight there would be food, wine and cake and then they would all spill their guts. Why had Lisanna been the one to tell Juvia though? Levy had her number. Lucy frowned but got up and dressed in her comfy clothes – knee high socks, hot pants and big sweater. Then she froze.

Holy shit, Levy had slept with Gajeel!

Who cared what she wore, who cared who told whom what?! Quickly Lucy dialed Levy's number and put her phone to her ear. It rang and rang, and went to voicemail.

"Hi you've reached Levy's phone, I'll call you back as soon as I can" *beep* Lucy hung up and tapped a text message instead.

To: Levy Sent: 12.03

How can you NOT answer your phone after a text like that? Call me! 3

The reply came quickly

From: Levy Received: 12.04

Can't I'm at the clinic. Tell you everything at dinner tonight, Juvia and Erza already planned everything.

To: Levy Sent: 12.04

Why are you at the clinic?

From: Levy Received 12.09

I'll tell you tonight 3

It was going to be excruciating to wait that long. And so, to pass the time, she cleaned the apartment. She went through the place with a hoover, wet blanket, from top to bottom. When that didn't take long enough she cleaned the kitchen thoroughly too. Oven, cabinets, drawers and all the dishes were sparkling by the time Juvia arrived and in quick succession the two of them moved all the dishes back into their places. Juvia's blue hair hung in their usual curl around her pale face when she picked up the groceries from by the front door and carried them to the kitchen. When Juvia met Lucy's eyes she put down one of the bags and held up her hand.

"Juvia is just as curious as you, Lucy, but Juvia knows just as little. Please don't ask until Levy arrives." Lucy frowned and realized that her mouth was open and she had in fact just been about to ask Juvia what she knew. Instead she nodded and helped Juvia unpack. Then Erza let herself in.

"I brought wine and cake!" She announced and Lucy went to greet her and take some things off her arms. The moment she came into view and without looking up at her Ezra spoke, her red hair cascading over her shoulders while she took her shoes off.

"Don't ask me anything. I don't know either." Lucy scowled.

"I wasn't even going to ask." She said before heading over to her and mumbled "Damn, that girl knows how to keep up the suspense" while taking the wine that Erza handed her with a nod of agreement.

"Don't you have a competition on Tuesday?" Lucy asked though still in a dark voice. Erza looked at Lucy and crooked her head to the side with a soft smile. Then she looked down as if she was modest

"Prof Clive said Kagura Mikasuchi wouldn't have a chance against me. But I wouldn't underestimate an opponent. I've heard she's good." She shook her head and her red hair fell over her grey-glad chest. Lucy nodded and smiled, then turned and brought the wine into the kitchen, stowing it out of the way in a cabinet. Erza entered the kitchen shortly after, put the cake in the fridge and the three of them started with the food right away. An hour later Lisanna arrived, showered and made the table while Lucy, Erza and Juvia finished the deserts and started on the main meal. (After getting a text from Levy saying she'd arrive in an hour and a half.)

At 5.30 someone knocked on the front door and all four girls turned in unison. It took a moment but eventually Lucy called

"Come in." And Levy, small, blue hair tied back with a brightly colored head band and rosy cheeks stepped into the apartment. She smiled shyly, her hands behind her back. She stepped out of shoes and walked over to them, the door closed softly behind her.

Lucy was suddenly worried about her friend. She seemed so frail as if she had been used up and wrung out. She looked exhausted.

"Please tell me you're happy about what happened." Lucy said and held her breath. Levy looked up at them with soft circles under her eyes. It didn't at all fit with her otherwise smooth, pale skin. But then Levy smiled a wide toothy grin and besides her Lucy felt both Erza and Juvia let go of their own breaths noisily.

"Sorry for worrying you all. I was at the clinic to get a morning after pill." Erza was first

"You didn't use protection?!" Levy blushed and looked away.

"It all went so fast, I didn't even have time to think." She said, her voice grew smaller and smaller for every word she spoke. Lucy suspected Erza was throwing a harsh glance Levy's way and stepped forward.

"Hold on, hold on hold on. One thing at the time." She turned to Levy after a short smile at Erza. "Are you okay? You look all shaken-up. Do you regret it, did he hurt you?" Levy smiled again. It was as if she lit a star with the power of her smile.

"I'm fine. More than fine I'm exhilarated and better than I've ever felt. I don't regret anything and although it hurt a bit, it was inevitable." Erza's mouth fell open, Juvia and Lucy squealed, Lisanna cheered.

"It was your first time?" Erza asked slowly and Levy nodded with a wide smile.

"Wine! Glasses! Cake! We need details!" She ordered and Lucy, Juvia and Lisanna ran to the kitchen to grad one each. Levy hesitated and the three of them stopped with just a foot out of the line they had created when greeting Levy.

"Shouldn't we eat first? You all prepared such a lovely smelling meal." Levy said with big eyes directed at Erza. Lucy cringed and her eyes widened as she waited for Erza's reaction. She was silent for a moment, then

"Only if you tell us who asked whom out?" She said and her voice was hard. At this Lucy perked up and grinned. Levy frowned and moved her weight from side to side.

"Why does that matter?" She asked but none of them answered although they all knew. Levy hesitated.

"Well, he asked me out." Erza and Lucy shouted "YES!" Triumphantly. Lisanna groaned and Juvia shrugged. Levy looked utterly confused. Obligedly Lisanna and Juvia took out their purses and gave Erza and Lucy 2500 jewels each. Levy's jaw dropped

"You bet on whether or not Gajeel would ask me out?" She said loudly. Lucy made an innocent face and Erza grinned.

"I thought you'd get fed up for taking so long and ask him yourself." Lisanna said in a dark voice.

"Lisanna doesn't know how patient you are." Lucy said

"Juvia thought it would take another few weeks." Juvia said and Erza grinned.

"You haven't seen Gajeel lately. He was practically chanting himself into resolution the past week." Erza turned around. "Food then spill!" And marched them all to the kitchen table where pasta-salad, greens and dip already were set up. Lisanna took the oven gloves from the counter, took the meat out of the oven (which was sparkling clean) and placed it in the middle of the table.

They ate in silence for a while, mostly because of curiosity for Levy's story and because none of them seemed to want to be first to break the silence. Erza, who usually would have taken that role, was too busy eating to speak. Quite a while into the meal though Lucy remembered Juvia's text that morning and she looked up.

"Juvia, when you texted me, what had Lisanna told you?" Out of the corner of her eye she was Lisanna grin.

"About your horizontal hula of course." Erza and Levy looked at her and Lucy groaned and let her head fall into her hand.

"I told you, I don't remember anything." She said but blushed at the sudden images that invaded her mind at those words. That strong body above her, kissing her, moving into her, holding her close to his hot body.

"Was it Natsu?" Erza asked and munched down a piece of potato. Lucy raised her eyebrows at her.

"Why would you think it was Natsu?" Lucy asked. Juvia smiled and took a sip of wine.

"Juvia saw you dancing. It was the way Juvia would dance if she wanted to get Gray to sleep with her at a party. You were all over him." Lucy blushed madly.

"I know what we danced like. It's just that there's nothing I remember that would connect anyone in particular to the guy I slept with. Honestly, the only thing I know is that he was tall and well-built. Fat help that is." Lucy said and stuffed a forkful of food in her mouth, scowling at Lisanna.

"What about movement?" Erza said. Lucy frowned, her fork still in her mouth. "How did, whoever you slept with move. Could that give you a clue?" Lucy thought of what Natsu had said about remembering what they had danced like after seeing her dance. Not that she thought it likely to work but at least it was something to go on she supposed. Should she watch Natsu move just in case? She already did watch him move, Lucy thought thinking about the way he had walked the night before. That hadn't been any help. Maybe she needed it to be a more vigorous activity. Lucy blushed again and reprimanded her imagination for going down the dirty street right away. She took a deep breath and pushed the thoughts of Natsu in a towel away.

"Enough about me. Lisanna, why do you have some of Laxus' clothes in your closet?" the three other girls' heads snapped to Lisanna and Lucy grinned at her scowl. "I'm just returning a favour." She added in an undertone. Lisanna groaned and let her head hang for a moment. Erza opened her mouth but Lisanna held up her hand.

"Fine, fine, I'll talk." She said and Erza smiled sweetly. Lisanna sighed and took a large gulp of wine, and another one, and another sigh. Lucy saw that Juvia looked worried. Laxus was her main teacher and she was probably hoping it wouldn't be some dirty story that would scar her for life. Levy mostly smiled excitedly. Lisanna gulped.

"Fine… A few months ago I ran into him when I was looking at some of the guys on the swim team." She sighed. "Lyon to be precise." The four girls gasped. "And prof. Dreyar came to ask what I was doing there. I told him that I was thinking about joining the swim team. He looked at me as though I was a fool and well, obviously it was the fattest lie I've ever told. Still I just wanted to have a look and I knew I probably shouldn't be there so I just stuck with it. I told him 'Honestly, I want to join!'" Lisanna goaned again and a soft blush covered her cheeks. "He told me to prove it, to jump in the water and swim a kilometer. I said I didn't have a swimsuit with me but he said it was fine and then just pushed me straight in the water." Lucy covered her mouth with a hand. Both from shock and to stifle a giggle. Lisanna wasn't a very good swimmer and prof. Dreyar must har realized it the moment he'd pushed her in. Lisanna sighed. "It didn't go too well and I was practically drowning. When he realized it he jumped in after me and pulled me out." Lisanna blushed. "He was really strong and practically threw me out of the water. He pulled himself out after me and slapped me on the back a couple of times so I could cough up the water I'd swallowed. He growled something about his clothes being all wet and he stripped, just like Gray always does and dropped the wet pile in my arms and told me I'd better wash them for him. I ran home dripping wet. I did get a look at him. Of course. He was delicious, sorry Juvia I'm not gonna lie, your teacher is a massive piece of eye-candy. Anyway, I washed the clothes but I haven't dared give them back yet. I've actually turned around and walked the other way every time I've seen him. It was horrible." Lisanna's entire face was bright red now and she didn't meet any of their gazes but stared stubbornly at her empty plate. Then Levy spoke up.

"That's adorable!" She said in the tone that made it sound as if she was talking about a puppy. Lisanna glared

"It's not adorable, it's embarrassing and now Natsu has those clothes because I puked all over him and he's gonna figure out they're prof. Dreyar's and give them back and it's gonna be even worse!" Lisanna groaned again and hid her face in her hands. Erza put a comforting hand on Lisanna's back.

"I'm sure he wouldn't." She said in a calm voice and a soft smile.

"Why wouldn't he? He's an idiot too dumb to find his own damn feet." It was an overstatement of course, but Lisanna said similar things about other people and Lucy didn't take her comments too seriously.

"He won't because I say so." Erza said with a soft smile and Lisanna looked up and smiled back. Then Erza slapped her hands together.

"Now. To the highlight of the evening, the reason we're all here. Levy, tell us all about your date with Gajeel."

They cleared the table within moments. Erza took out the cake and Lisanna brought the second bottle of wine from the kitchen along with plates and forks and a knife to cut and eat the cake.

When they were all served with both cake and wine and blankets had been handed out to all who wanted one and Lucy and her friends sat on the couches and watched Levy intently. She in turn turned redder and redder with every moment that past. Then she took a deep breath and started.

"Gajeel has been around for quite a while, as you know. He's shown up when I walked home alone and kept me company when I was waiting for class. Lately we also went out for coffees every now and then. Nothing official really, just, like, I'd say I wanted to go have coffee and he'd join. It was really nice except he insisted on calling me things like 'shrimp' or 'girl' I yelled at him once or twice for it and told him to actually call me by name. When I did he didn't even say a name at all, he'd just go 'you' or 'hey'. It was really annoying. Then after a while he'd go back to 'Shrimp' and after a while I got tired of telling him to stop.

"Whatever I did though, he never stopped showing up to watch me practice or to walk me home. He always came back.

"A few weeks ago now he started suggesting to go out for tea or coffee himself. When I'd say I had to study for some subject he said 'Bring the damn books and I'll keep ya company.' And when I studied, he'd be quiet as a mouse.

"When I had to rehearse for that competition two weeks ago I saw less and less of him. At first I thought he'd given up on me and that I'd finally be rid of his somewhat looming presence. But at rehearsal I found myself looking at the spot where he always sat hoping that he'd be there. He never was and it was so distracting that I even made a serious mistake in one of my pirouettes and prof. Strauss freaked out. She threw me out of the rink for the rest of the day to get my shit together (her words not mine). I took a long walk thinking about Gajeel mostly and I realized that I actually wanted to have him around. I actually liked it when he called me shrimp, weirdly enough. I was just so comfortable with him around. So I searched him out at the boxing rink where he was training.

"Before then I'd never actually seen him move other than the usual things people do but oh, he was breathtaking. I mean the guy is a heavy weight even if he doesn't really look it with all his clothes on. But really, he's massive but he moved as light as a bird in flight. For an entire two hours I just sat there and stared until he turned, saw me and got so distracted that prof. Clive knocked him out cold.

"I ran down to see if he was alright and prof. Clive grinned at me saying 'thanks for giving me the opportunity to teach him that lesson, he needed it.' and left. I didn't know what to do so I just put his head in my lap and waited for him to wake up. When he did he totally snuggled into my belly and put his arms around my hip. My giggle woke him for real and he practically jumped two metres in the air. You don't even know how hard he apologized and it took my yell of 'shut it' to make him stop. When he did I finally had the time to actually look at him. I mean, he was shirtless and in only shorts. I'd taken off his gloves before. The guy is massive I tell you and even with the long hair and piercings, which he wasn't wearing (It looked a bit strange) he was delicious. After a while of standing completely still he cleared his throat and said that it wasn't fair that I got to gawk at him like that. And before I could stop myself I said that if he played his cards right, one day he might get to gawk at me shirtless too."

Lucy, Lisanna, Juvia and Erza all gasped and laughed.

"I know I know, I thought the same, went bright red and ran off. Part of me wished he'd follow me and hug me or something but he didn't and in retrospect I'm glad for it. It gave me time to think and realize that what I'd said on impulse was true. I wanted him to make me want to take my shirt off for him.

"For days I went bright red every time I thought about it but then I had to stop because a few days later Gajeel started showing up again. My rehearsals went so much better when he was there and I started to go to his practices too. Repaying the favour so to speak. He got distracted at first and prof. Clive got to teach him that lesson several times before I yelled from the stands to keep his head in the game. After that practice I came to meet him in the rink and he was all gruff and stoic looking and said 'I know how to fight, shrimp.' And I said 'Then why does prof. Clive keep knocking you out?' I heard prof. Clive yell 'She's got a point!' from a bit away then he left the training hall. Gajeel waited a bit longer then said 'I can't focus with your pretty little head sitting up there watching me.', grumbled and looked away. I held my breath cause I couldn't tell if he'd meant that as an expression or if he was telling me he thought I was pretty. I watched him, waited for him to explain, then slowly, very slowly, he started to blush. It was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. When I started to giggle he grumbled again, straightened up and pointed at his face and yelled 'see!'. He rubbed his face and mumble 'can't even think straight when you're around.' But I think he didn't intend for me to hear that. So I poked him and when he looked up I crooked my finger so he would bend down. He did and presented his ear as if he thought I was gonna whisper something in it. I leaned in, playing along, but kissed him on the cheek instead. I think he fainted or something, I don't know, I skipped away and didn't look back.

"What was two weeks ago. I had my competition the day after, came second. I don't know if he was there to watch me but he came to see me afterwards all freshened up in a suit. He was very formal, congratulating me and keeping his distance. I would have loved for him to take me in his arms and kiss me passionately but of course, with Jet and Droy there, that wasn't going to happen. Both of them were pretty upset as it was already since Gajeel had "stolen" so much of my time lately and they were staring daggers at him. Gajeel was quite oblivious though, either that or he ignored them. The three of them followed me home and the tension was probably as awkward as things could ever be. Gajeel didn't say a word to Jet and Droy and they only glared at him. By the time we reached my dorm I wanted to shoo them away with a broom so I could be in peace so when I turned around to tell them bye I was surprised to see Jet and Droy standing back with angry faces but blushes on their cheeks. Gajeel too was blushing softly but stepped forward and handed me a book and said 'I thought you might like this' And with another glare at Jet and Droy he stomped off. The two of them immediately but shily stepped forward and wanted to know what Gajeel had given me but I was too tired to deal with their rants about a rival. I told them I wanted to rest and that we could meet the next day and reluctantly they walked off.

"They left, thankfully without much complaint and I went into my dorm room, put the book on my bedside table and showered and ate.

"The book, oh the book. On it's own it wasn't all that remarkable. It contained the expected; the greatest figureskaters through the ages. Some of my all time favourites where among them, others weren't. What was the sweetest thing though was in the back. First off there was a dried and flattened lilly only it was dark, not like they're usually coloured and it looked mysterious. Not until it fell out of the book and onto my lap did I realize that it had the same colour as the outfit I'd worn for that day's competition and a few times during practice. On the page where the lilly had been was a photo of me and underneath a text that described my skating-style, level of technique, bit's of biography, though not much. At first I thought it was a bit creepy as though he was stalking me, researching things about me but then I saw a small sprawling handwriting at the bottom of the page saying 'Everything written here are things you've told me and that I learned by watching you rehearse. I can't get you out of my head. I'm lonely without you. G' It was probably the sweetest things I've ever heard him say, or, you know, read him say… come to think of it, it's one of the few things he's ever written me. Anyway, I put the book on my bedside table. Since the glee over his gift was gone a bit and it was all a mixture of sweetness and stalker-alert. I mean, who remembers so much of what a single person says?"

Erza cut in then.

"I think Jellal could remember all fights I've ever had and probably perform them if he was drunk enough." She said with a smile.

"Juvia remembers most of Gray's conversations with her. But there have been so many, Juvia is starting to forget some of her words." Juvia said and looked down with a small frown. Levy looked at Lucy and raised her eyebrows.

"What about you and Natsu?" She asked. Lucy frowned.

"What about him and me? We've hung out alone twice. I don't get a say in this." She said but at the same time thought about her words. Erza and Jellal were the best couple Lucy had ever seen (Albeit a little perverse and a little, what should she call it, strange but they'd held together through some very rough times.) Juvia had been fiercely in love with Gray ever since she met him but she and Natsu? There wasn't even a 'she and Natsu' to speak of. She might like him, like Lisanna always said, although she'd never confirmed it to her friends, she didn't deny it either and her affections much show themselves somehow. But she didn't remember all words he had ever spoken to her, or all the fights he'd had, which she hadn't even seen one of and she could, quite well, get him out of her mind when she was dancing. Maybe Lisanna was wrong.

"I've seen you though." Lisanna said. "Every now and then you look around as if you're looking for something or like you're heard some noise and are trying to pinpoint it. Every time you do, you find yourself close to Natsu. He seems to be keeping track of you." Lucy blushed. Was it true? Was he really keeping track of her? And if so, why? Was he stalking her? No. Now that Lisanna had mentioned it Lucy could remember some of the times it had happened. That prickling at the back of her neck. It happened every now and then, sometimes several times a day but other times, there could be weeks in between.

What did that mean though? Did he keep track of her because he liked her? Did guys really think that way? Lucy shook her head, Natsu didn't like her, he didn't like people that way. He was completely oblivious to things like dating, making out and sleeping with someone. Then again, he had noticed that she had slept with someone and he had gotten excited about how they danced. Oh, Natsu, why was he so confusing. Luckily at that moment, Lisanna spoke up.

"I don't think it's creepy. He said he's thinking about you. That's as sweet as you get from some people." She said and Levy nodded and smiled.

"Since this was over two weeks ago, I decided to see it that way too and went to look for him right away and found him at the boxing rink. When I came in through the door it was as if he could smell or sense me and he met my eyes the moment I set a foot inside the hall. This time though he turned back around and blocked prof. Clive's punch just in time and was even able to throw a punch himself. I even saw him grin when I sat down on the bench and although he didn't look back at me once during his practice, I knew that he was fully aware of where I was for the duration of his training.

"He didn't mention the book when he came out of the rink and I came to meet him. Neither did I, I didn't even thank him, which was very unlike me but I'm sure I smiled like a crazy person.

"The next two weeks, until this Friday, we practically danced around each other. I mean, I might have been oblivious to flirting before but for those two weeks I noticed every bit of it and I gave back just as much as I'd received. I mean, the subtle touches, and the knowing smiles, the winks and the lingering gazes and even the silences when he watched me study, they were all just so delicious and the best dance there was!

"So then Friday. I was just about to head for my dorm after practice after one, rather sad, Gajeel-less day of rehearsal when I found a slip of paper in my bag saying '18.00' and 'front door' I had no idea what it meant but could recognize Gajeel's handwriting. I went home and by the front door another slip of paper was slipped under my door. It said ' Franchesco's' Which is my absolute favourite restaurant and 'date, officially'"

Lucy, Lisanna, Juvia and Erza let out a collective sigh of 'Awwww' and Lisanna added

"That's so sweet." Levy smiled, blushing softly.

"Well, I don't need to tell you how ecstatic I was but seeing as I only had an hour to get ready I didn't really have time to text any of you. So I hurried and showered, fixed my hair, nothing fancy really just a special hair band that I've been dying to use. It's silver with two rows of (fake) diamonds along the edges and a silver band along the middle. I wore my turquise and black dress, you know the one simple, sleeveless, reaches to the floor and isn't all that fancy. And I headed out. I was so excited I even forgot my phone in the apartment and didn't think about it until we were heading out for a walk. Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Gajeel was already waiting for me when I arrived. Oh, he was so handsome, wearing a suit and tie, black suit, grey shirt and blue tie. The tie matched the colour of my hair perfectly. He'd even tied back his hair. that if anything looked out of sorts, he doesn't even do it when he fights. So there he stood all pierced and massive and cleaned up and although I was wearing heels I felt tiny compared to him. He grinned when I was close and offered his arm with a blush. I took it with a blush of my own and he led me inside the restaurant.

"The place, btw, it you haven't been there is amazing. It's mostly green, soft and dark green and white chair, black floor. It's got a clean thing going on and it's comfortable in its simplicity.

"It was rather full but Gajeel had booked a table and we were immediately seated by the window overlooking the streets in the middle of the city. The first thing Gajeel said as that I could eat and order anything I wanted since it couldn't be more than he was going to eat. He turned out be right. Damn that man can eat and he ate his food with such ferocity you'd think he was biting down on iron. Throughout the meal, well, most of the meal, we didn't talk much. Although we'd spent so much time together, now that we were on an official date it was kind of awkward and I really needed that to change. Half way through my main course I pointed my fork at him and said

"'Where did you get those piercings?' He looked up, chewing. He looked at me for a moment, swallowed then shrugged.

"'Got them after ma' foster dad died, or vanished, whichever.' And although he held my gaze, showing off a hard exteriour I could tell that this wasn't really a 'whatever' sort of event. I also assumed that he didn't really wanted to talk about it. I put my hand on his and although he flinched he didn't pull it away.

"'I'm sorry.' I said. He shrugged again.

"'It was a long time ago.' He said and kept eating. He didn't pull the hand under mine away and it seemed to make eating harder for him. Still he didn't pull it away. By the way he avoided my gaze though it seemed as though he wasn't being completely honest. I can understand that though.

"'Thanks for the book.' I said trying to change the subject. It took him a moment to gauge what I meant but when he did he nodded and blushed.

"'I ain't stalking ya' He said and although I had figured as much by then, it was still a relief to hear him say it.

"After that the mood lightened perceptively and we talked like we had at any other time we'd been out on our own, about techniques in sports, school and whatever else came to our minds. I asked him if he had learned prof. Clives lesson yet and in answer Gajeel nodded and rubbed his temple where Clive had caught him every time.

"'Took a while though, you're so damn distracting.' and added 'good lesson to learn though.' blushing I asked

"'So you can put me out of your mind now?" I even cringed as the words left my lips. It sounded so… attention seeking. But he apparently took it differently and barked a laugh.

"'fat chance!' He said ' All I can do is focus on the fighting when you're there. Any other time I'd be fighting a dragon trying not to think about ya'.' Both of us blushed and we ate some more in silence, our hands still touching. Mine was getting clammy and a bit shaky but his was just large and hard and stable. It was comfortable, I felt safe.

"When the waiter had come and brought our desserts and left again Gajeel looked at me for a while without touching his dish. I saw his eyes flicker down to my lips once or twice which made me blush. Then he looked away.

"'Do you… think... about me any?' His tone was a low and husky and a shade of honest to goodness worry covered his face. It was probably the cutest thing I'd ever seen on him and so uncharacteristic, it made all the bigger impact on me. I smiled and he looked at me again and when his eyes flickered down to my lips again I looked at his lips too and he bit his lower one.

"I think that was the first time I saw him do something like that and for some inexplicable reason all I could think about was 'holy shit I want him right now' and believe me, had we not been at the restaurant, I would probably have considered ripping his clothes off right then. I think I might have blushed at my thoughts. After all, I've never actually seen a guy naked but I very much wanted to kiss him and have my hands on him. So I took a deep breath. I wanted the feeling to stay and I wanted to be honest.

"'Only when I'm breathing.' I said and oh, I could just sense how those words turned him on. The hand under mine stiffened and he grinned.

"'Don't hold your breath.' he said and we both laughed. We ate our desert and for the rest of the meal we exchanged sneaky and seductive glances. It was delicious, the dessert too mind you and although I loved the place, I couldn't wait to get out of there and do something else. Gajeel seemed to be thinking the same and had soon paid and retrieved my coat. Again he held out his arm and I took it. This time though, although I was small compared to him, it felt good to be connected that way.

"Suddenly as we headed in the direction of campus I felt massively nervous. I was suddenly really and fully aware of what it all those glances implied. And although I'm 20 I was still a virgin until yesterday. Boys were never something I had any time for and now that the prospect of it was so close and going to happen I was freaking out. Freaking out in a sense that I lost track of the conversation repeatedly and kept window shopping and insisting we had to go some other way instead of the straight way to campus, to dorm rooms and beds and sex. I wasn't so much afraid of it hurting as people always say it would, rather of the prospect of it actually happening altogether. Gajeel must have noticed and when I was just about to suggest some other alley we just had to go through when he cut me off.

"'You wanna go for a walk?' He didn't even look at me. I was freaking out still and his words didn't really register. I barely looked at him until he pushed me by the shoulders against the nearest walls. I almost yelled in fright. He looked angry but also sad. My heart thumped hard in my chest. I was just about to look away again. I bit my lip and inspected the grip he had on my shoulder gauging if I could slip under it. Then he spoke.

"'Why are you afraid of me?' I denied it without hesitating. Actually I denied it before he was done speaking which only emphasised it as a lie. He pointed it out saying I was the worst liar he'd ever seen. I just shook my head trying to deny anything he might said. Then his voice changed and went all soft.

"'Shrimp.' He said. I looked at him and stopped tapping my foot. 'We're not going to do anything you don't want to if that's what you're worried about.' I swallowed and looked away but he grabbed my chin and turned my face to his again. His eyes were too intense, I wanted to look away but now I couldn't. Everything I saw was him, his handsome face. 'I ain't gonna make you do anything you don't want.' It wasn't settling, I was still afraid and his words weren't getting through. He growled and gripped my arms tighter. I could feel his arms strain as though he wanted to shake me but was holding back.

"'Levy!' He said, louder this time. The sound of my name snapped my eyes to his. 'If it's sex you're worried about, I won't force you. It will happen if and when you want it to.' He said and his words finally, slowly settled in my mind.

"Then out of nowhere, I grabbed his face, pulled it down and kissed him full on the mouth. The instant his lips met mine he went still, his arms no longer shaking to restrain his wish to shake me and his body went regid. It was as if he was working through what was going on and it took a while before the hand on my chin moved to my cheek and then to the back of my neck. He pulled me off the wall and closer to him. The entire length of me was pressed against him and I didn't for the life of me know what I was supposed to do with my arms. I was stunned by my own action and it took a while to realize what I was doing and what I wanted to be doing. Once I knew I moved one hand to rest on his chest and the other snaked around his waist to pull him closer, even if that wasn't physically possible. My mouth moved against his and soon he parted his lips and hovered over mine, his breath brushing them as if to ask very carefully if he could deepen the kiss. I responded by tracing my own tongue against his lower lip and he pushed against me again. Oh, it was exquisite. I've kissed guys before but Gajeel was by far the best. He didn't shove his tongue into my mouth like I've known some to do and he didn't try to eat my entire face off either. Although it was there, his tongue didn't invade my mouth, it simply probed gently, peaking if his movements were acceptable or not. Every time he tried something new he waited for a response whether it was positive or not, though it mostly was.

"Eventually when he seemed to have established a few things that he could and couldn't do he moved me back so I was pressed against the wall again. His right hand was still on my cheek and neck but his left hand trailed down my arm and rested on my waist. I stiffened for a moment but when Gajeel noticed he kissed me in a particular way that I like and I relaxed and let out a soft moan. I felt him grin against my lips but shortly afterwards he drew back and simply hugged my to his chest. He put his chin on the top of my head and held me close and slowly I wrapped my arms around his middle.

"When he pulled away he didn't say anything. He barely looked at me but took my hand and led me in the opposite direction of campus. It was comforting to be heading the other way and his hand steadied my when I could have been stumbling and tripping over my own feet. We went to the park and strolled around for a while. I had a mind to take off my shoes but I knew I would look like a child next to him if I did. By the pond we sat down on a bench and there I stepped out of my heels and pulled my knees to my chest.

"'I've never done it you know." I said after a while and felt him turn to me.

"'What?' He said and I cringed, a bit weirded out by having to say it, or to have to say it to him. I thought that maybe, since he kept such track of me, he knew that I'd never actually been with a guy. Then again, he probably hadn't paid attention for all that long. I sighed.

"'Sex.' I said. 'I've never had it.' I didn't have to wait long for his surprised 'Oh.' And I cringed again and looked away.

"'Why does that matter? Are you afraid it might hurt?' he asked but before I could answer he added 'If you wanna wait, it's fine, I don't mind.' I frowned at him.

"'Technically, with enough foreplay it's not supposed to hurt.' I said. I wasn't afraid of that. I was scared of doing it at all. I mean I might have tried a finger or two but having someone else put their penis inside me… I'd never even seen a real live penis before after all.

"'So you wanna wait?' He asked and I actually laughed. He frowned

"'I honestly can't wait to find out what the fuss is all about.' I said but then my smile fell. Gajeel nodded and took the words right out of my mouth.

"'But you've waited for so long, the anticipation makes it scary.' I nodded. He draped his arm around my shoulder with a sigh and pulled me close into an one-armed hug. 'I know the feeling' He said and kissed my head before putting his chin on my head again. I leaned into his chest when he did and his embrace warmed me. 'Take your time. When you're ready… There's no need to rush.' He said in a low voice and squeezed that arm around me. I pulled away a bit then and smiled at him. He hesitated a bit but then leaned in for a kiss and I met him halfway.

"We went home after that and that was pretty much our date." Levy said and the four girls looked at her for a moment. The cake and wine was gone. There had been a call for tea but no one had seemed to want to get up. Lucy at least didn't want to miss a word of Levy's story. She had been waiting for this day every since Gajeel had started to show up to walk Levy home for the first time.

"Hold on." Lisanna said and everyone looked at her. "It's Sunday today." Levy nodded and grinned.

"You sent us that text last night." Erza said and Levy nodded again, her grin widening. Erza leaned forward. "What happened yesterday?" She practically shouted. Levy giggled. "Details Levy! We need t o know!" Levy giggled more and covered her mouth, her cheeks bright red.

"I can't just tell you all the details, it's private." She said.

"Those aren't the rules! If you announce you slept with a guy you've flirted with for months you spill! Lucy tell her!" Lucy gave Levy a sympathetic smile

"Those are the rules of girl-talk. I spilled, we're here for you." Not that Levy looked particularly disturbed by their wish to hear all the dirty details on Gajees. In fact, Lucy thought Levy looked absolutely giddy to spill. She was just playing coy. Lucy wasn't fooled.

"Alright." Levy said and blushed deep red. She didn't need any of their wide eyes eager to hear every word she spoke. She was eager enough as it was. Lucy wondered how she would present this part of the story. After all, Lucy doubted that Levy would be able to, with a straight face, speak of all the wonderful experiences of such an event. Then again, Levy was very good with words. Maybe there was a deliciously detailed story waiting for them.

"Before we came home we walked past a poster talking about the fair that was going on this weekend and Gajeel told me that he'd never actually been on one. As soon as he said it I asked if he wanted to go and although he just shrugged and said 'sure, if you wanna' I could see that he was really excited already and for the rest of the way home he had a constant tiny smile on his lips. It was adorable.

"When we were at my door he said he'd pick me up at noon the next day and before he left we kissed and hugged. At the time I didn't know how anything could be better. Goodness, what a surprise that would be.

"I'm going to skip over my night and morning and actually most of the fair since it mostly consisted of Gajeel and me holding hands and us going on different rides and playing those fair-games that are always rigged for you to lose. Although he did manage to win at a punching measurer thing, figures, and he gave me a large teddybear. It was seriously almost as tall as me.

"When the evening was drawing to its peak, somewhere around eleven in the evening I think we were both happy, our stomachs full with fair-food, candy cotton and simply giddy from the noises and laughter around us. I didn't think I've ever seen Gajee smile so much in one night and it warmed me from the inside and his hand holding mine warmed me from the outside. I simply didn't want to go home. I didn't want to be separated from his just because those were the rules of the dorm rooms. As if night-time was the only time 18-25 year olds could sleep together. So, when we passed a hotel during a stroll I suggested we rent a room for the night. Gajeel was shocked at first but then nodded and said 'if you want' I wasn't sure what he was thinking about. I could have probably been able to imagine what went through his mind but I was far too happy from the night out to think dirty thoughts. Not yet at least.

"So we checked in. I insisted on paying myself since he'd paid for out dinner the night before. To make it even, you know. Not that I knew how much he had spent on our meal but I made sure that he didn't know how much I spent on the room.

"We headed up to our room and settled the bear on one of the chairs the first thing we did. The room was simple, really. A plain green fuzzy matted floor with beige walls, the bed was queen size and covered in green and white sheets. It wasn't really super romantic but I was really giddy at the prospect of spending the night with him. I proclaimed that I was going to take a shower and although I thought I heard the door click shut twice I didn't actually know that he had been out of the room while I was showering.

"First I heard the music. It was probably the most cheesy and fitting music to the situation. 'sexual healing' played and I giggled, put in my underwear and wrapped the towel around me. I gaped when I saw that he had done to the place. Not only had he organised the music but he had thrown rosepettles over the floor and lit at least 30 candles around the room. I was half expecting the fire alarm to go off but he must have known the risk and opened a window.

"He stood perfectly still as I stepped into the room. He was so handsome in his black button down shirt at black pants. His angular face set in a calm expression and I saw small tinge of red on his cheeks.

"Since I hadn't suggested the hotel room in order for us to have sex I was so surprised at his conclusion that I had to laugh. I was quick to cover my mouth though.

"'You didn't have to do this.' I said and saw his blush deepen. 'I didn't...' But I broke off. He was breathing hard almost as if he was trying to control himself. It was strangely sexy. His shirt strained against every breath and I could see the contours of his chest under it. At that moment I realized that I wanted to do it. I wanted to have sex with him. I wanted to take off his clothes slowly and have him touch me like he didn't dare to. I let my eyes trail down the length of him and walked slowly over to him. I think I swayed my hips a bit more than usually and he looked at them, his eyes followed my moves until I could put my hands on his chest. I felt his muscles twitch under the shirt and without thinking I reached up and unbuttoned a button. He blushed and his breath caught in his throat. He didn't caugh, he just held it a moment and then slowly let it out and it brushed hot against my face.

"I continued my way down his shirt until it was completely lose. Then it was my own turn to blush when I felt my heart racing and more than that, my entire body pulsing with a desire that I had never felt before.

"I brushed my hands along the collar of his shirt and felt my fingers tingle and my breath hitch when I touched his hot skin. The moment my hands brushed his skin his eyes fluttered closed and he took another few deep breaths. It seemed he was in fact controlling himself. At the same time I could sense that he was anxious and a bit afraid or nervous but he did nothing to stop me as I ran my hands along the strip of flesh visible under his shirt. I felt him shudder and I quickly looked up at him. His eyes were intense and they found mine immediately. I took a deep breath, bit my lip and stepped back, my hand was outstretched and only my fingertips were touching him.

"'If you don't want to...' One by one my fingers left his skin but just as my middle finger slipped off him he stepped forward and my hand slipped into his shirt of its own accord. He looked deep into my eyes bent and put a hand on my cheek. His lips hovered over mine and I felt his stomach tighten and a strangled sound left his lips.

"'It's just so soon… I...' I bit my lip.

"'Is it too soon?' I asked. He pressed his lips together and took a few breaths to calm himself. He hesitated, then

"'I'm ready if you are.' He said in a deep voice and my heart made a summersault. I ran my hands along his skin, his head fell back with a loud breath and it gave me access to his entire upper body.

"'I'm ready.' I said, ran my hands along his neck and pulled his shirt off. It fell to the floor. The towel I had wrapped around me fell off me too and I didn't care to pull it back up again but moved my hands over his body and vowed to touch every part of him.

"His hand fell from my cheek and brushed my hip. I don't think he meant to actually touch me but when he did he absolutely froze, he arm hovered away from his body where it hadn't come to rest completely. I think he didn't expect me to be undressed so quickly. He breathed heavily and it rasped through his throat. He shuddered again.

"'Too many times have I wondered...' I blushed but didn't say anything. I actually wanted him to say it. I wanted to hear it past through his lips.

"I stepped closer and kissed his chest. His muscles went taunt and I smiled and traced more kisses over him. It was delicious to feel his skin under my lips, it was so different from feeling with my hands. I could taste the salt on his skin and the lingering smell of smoke, sweets and a little alcohol was mixed in there too. He tasted like the fair we had been to.

"'What have you wondered.' I asked against his skin and teasingly stuck out my tongue to lick his skin. He even tasted of the fair. He shivered when I traced wet kisses over his chest. Still his hands remained at his sides. I wanted them to touch me, I wanted him to kiss me like I was kissing him.

"'What you look like.' He said his head coming up but when I glanced at him I saw that his eyes were still closed. I smiled at the soft blush and the hard breaths I could feel both as his chest rose and fell under my touch and under my kisses and when the hot air brushed my neck. I moved closer to him but kept my body off his. Except for my lips and hands.

"'You know what I look like.' I said against his skin and sucked at a spot on his chest. He groaned and I felt it reverberate through his entire body. He shivered and chuckled. I sucked harder on his skin and knew it would leave a mark. I stepped up on my tip toes to each his neck and I traced kisses there too. It seemed to be increasingly harder for Gajeel to keep his hands at his sides. They twitched and brushed against my hip but he kept them still. I bit down at the crook of his neck and he let out another groan, his head falling back again.

"'I didn't know you could be such a tease.' He said in a husky whisper. I smiled and sucked on another piece of skin.

"'Neither did I.' I said and stepped away from him. I pulled my hands from his body although I immediately wished I could touch him again. I realized then that I was breathing just as hard as him and looking at him, barechested didn't help that at all. I didn't want to help it though. I wanted to tangle my hands into his gruffy long black hair. I wanted to pull him to me and have him kiss me like he had kissed no one before. His arms twitched again as if he was looking for my touch and he pressed his lips into a thin line.

"'Look at me.' I said and was surprised at how calm my own voice sounded. He hesitated and swallowed hard. Then, slowly, he opened his eyes. He was quick to make eye contact and he did his very best to keep his eyes on appropriate places. I wanted to yell at him that this was not strictly speaking an appropriate time. He blushed as he struggled not to look at my naked chest. I have to give him credit for how hard he worked not to look and his breath hitched even higher and his eyebrows twitched in the effort. But then he looked and I'm not sure if he blushed even more or if his face drained of colour. What I do know is that his crotch gave a distinctive twitch and I assumed that that was a good thing.

"He moved into me then. He hands pulled me roughly to him by the waist and we collided, lips and body in a hot mess.

"Since I've only done it the one time with the one guy I can't actually tell you if what he did was 'good' other than that it felt amazing. Everything was amazing, every kiss he planted on me sent tingles through me, every move his hands made had me moving with them or into them and wherever his skin met mine I wanted us never to separate. It was wonderful to have someone else touch me especially in those ways, it was better than I could have imagined. His fingers and hands might be big and gruff-looking but when he ran them over my body, pressing them into me, playing with my lady-parts he did it with such care and so gently that it too added to the spark in my belly.

"When he entered me, which I had to beg him to do, it didn't really hurt as much as it expanded my insides so intensely that I cried out and he froze and I practically yelled at him not to dare stop moving. I even swore and I think it turned him on. When he had entered and filled me completely I held him to me and he held me to him. I had my legs wrapped around his hips and he had his arms around me and his face buried in my neck. I felt his hard breath on my skin. He shivered but held completely still. I shivered too and contracted around him which made him groan. I think could have stayed like that forever. Eventually though I moved my hips against him and he pulled himself out. This too was amazing but I think I prefer to have him fully inside me.

"He took up a slow but steady pace of moving in and out, my legs around his hips and we pushed and pulled together. His lips traced kisses along my neck and nibbled at a few places making me shiver and gasp. The longer he moved, the move intense his hip movements became and his breaths grew heavier and heavier. At one point he pushed himself up and with one hand holding him up against the headboard the other traced down my stomach to flick a finger over my clit. This combined movements made me moan and my moan was immediately answered by him. I looked up at him and saw his intense gaze on my body, on my hands that refused to let go of his skin, until he met my eyes. When he did he leaned forward and kissed me lightly and deliciously. His lips tasted of me but his kiss was sweet and tender. His gruffy hair hung over his shoulder and tickled my stomach when he leaned into me but that too felt good.

"Then he hit some sweet-spot and before I knew what happened I arched my back into him, his arm slipped around me and held me to him. My head fell back as I moaned out his name. Whatever it was he had done, he did again and when I reacted the same way he grinned and moved to hit that stop time and time again. He quickened his pace, moving into me in a more demanding way. He kept hitting that sweet spot and when he pushed his hand between our bodies to brush my clit again it felt as if I actually was going to explode. My stomach tightened and my moans were higher and louder. So were his along with his pants. He pressed me to him and whispered

"'You feel so good.' in my ear. I breathed a laugh and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You too.' I told him and felt him smile against my skin. He moved to hit my sweet spot again and I cried out loudly. Every time he pushed inside and every time he clicked his finger I moaned. I didn't want it to stop ever. The tension in my belly reached a new high as his thrusts became more urgent together with his grunts. I clutched him closer to me although I knew that would make it harder for him to touch me but I didn't care. I just wanted him close. I dug my fingernails into his back as he gave a particular thrust and a few more of those had me clamp down around him and he shouted and threw his head back.

"'Oh, Levy!' He shouted and I clamped down harder. I felt more of him that way as both his thrusts and flicks escalated I felt an exquisite release rush over me. I arched my back into him and flung my head back. My hands fisted and couldn't hold onto him anymore. My legs wrapped around him and helped his move harder into me.

"With me clamped so hard around him it didn't take long for his release to follow mine. He thrust hard but warned me that he was coming though I knew just before he told me. I felt him tense all over and while his eyes flew closed his mouth fell open. He shouted my name again and I felt him twitch inside me along with his hips and his hands on my back fisted and pushed me hard into him. He thrust into me two more times, groaned, then relaxed and slowly placed me on the bed before practically collapsing onto me.

"It took quite a while before he rolled off me and I was almost sad when he slipped out of me. I rolled into his side my right leg draped over his and my head on his shoulder. He kissed my forehead.

"'I can't believe I've waited this long to do that.' I said and he chuckled and gave me a one-armed hug. 'That was amazing' I said and he nodded.

"'It really was.' He agreed and hugged me again.

"'You even said my name.' I said in an undertone and he chuckled again.

"'You know, if we were to officially be a couple, I could call you babe.' He said and I poked him in the ribs. He laughed and squirmed.

"'Or you could use my damn name.' I poked a few more times, then my pokes turned to tickles and we wrestled a bit. He won, straddling me with my arms pinned above my head.

"'Sure thing babe.' He said, grinned and leaned close, his breath on my lips. 'Levy?' He whispered and I raised my eyebrows at him. He moved closer still and I felt the heat of his lips on mine. 'I like it when you swear.' And he kissed me and on my stomach I felt that he in fact did like it when I swore. I giggled and pulled him closer. Only then did I realize how sore I was. The entire area between my legs throbbed with every pulse of my heartbeat. I groaned and cringed. Gajeel practically flew off me. He asked me if he'd hurt me and I told me what went on. 'Oh.' He said and laid down on the bed again when I patted a spot next to me. I snuggled into him when he did and he draped the blanket over the two of us. I think I fell asleep within moments.

"The text I sent you all was from the bathroom when I woke up and had to pee later. I didn't actually know what time it was. It couldn't have been that much later, we spent quite some time doing it and it wasn't light out yet. That's basically it. This morning I woke up with a start and went 'Holy shit we didn't use protection.' And Gajeel shot up next to me and repeated my words. We hurried to the clinic, got the pill but I also booked a time to get some regular pills." Levy looked around and met each girl's eyes, her face reddened as they practically glared at her. Lucy was the first to smile. Then, one by one they all broke out in grins.

"Juvia remembers her first time. Compared to Levy's story, it was a complete mess." Juvia said and shuddered. Lisanna nodded and patted her on the shoulder.

"I know the feeling." She said and Juvia smiled weakly. Lucy thought about her own first time. Who had it been with? Dean? David? apparently, whoever it was wasn't all that important to her anymore. Then again it must have been at least five years ago and the hormonal mess she had been had probably made her think a lot of meaningless things were meaningful.

"My first time was pretty decent." Erza said "Maybe not as good as yours but the guy was experienced and knew that he was doing. I didn't see much of him later though. Probably for the best." Lucy raised her eyebrows but it was Lisanna who asked.

"Why?"

"He said I should try and lose some weight when I lay on his shoulder so I punched him. I think I broke a rib or two. But the sex was nice." Erza laughed and Lucy chuckled too.

"I think that's still better than my first time since I don't really remember it. Now that I think about it though I think my dad might have walked in on us… Maybe dad just threw the guy out or something…" Lucy stared into the depth of memory. Yeah, it had been something like that.

"If that's what happened, I think you win at whose first time was the worst." Lisanna said and they laughed. Then she stood and cleared the table and Lucy went to make tea.

"So Levy." Erza started when they all had their hands wrapped around steaming cups of tea, the heat stinging in Lucy's fingers. "How big is Gajeel." In an instant Levy went bright red.

"I… I don't know.. " She stammered and looked at her tea. They were all silent for a while, watching Levy. Then she looked up, cheeks still red. "It's not like I have anything to compare to!" She said loudly. "If I say carrot you can either think of one of those massive ones or a tiny mini carrot. How should I know what it big and what is small?"

And so Erza and Juvia (though mostly Erza) explained size to Levy. Lucy was slightly mortified by the amount of thought Erza had given the subject and apparently she'd had experience with all of them. She told them that the guy with the second to smallest size had the best technique and worked the hardest to make her happy. The guy with the smallest seemed to have given up on penetration altogether and focused on oral most of the time, and so had the guy with the biggest fellow. Erza told them that when he entered her it felt like her first time all over again. She went on to telling them that the right size varied and for all she knew Gajeel could be tiny and still be right for Levy, who blushed. Erza sure enjoyed her dirty talk. She even told them Jellal's size (average but on the bigger side) and said that he couldn't be more perfect for her. Lucy blushed at this and thought that she could never see Jellal in the same way again.

Eventually Levy, Juvia and Erza decided it was time to go home. It was closing in on midnight and they all had classes in the morning.

"Be sure to come to my competition on Tuesday." Erza said when she, Levy and Juvia pulled on their shoes by the door. Lucy nodded.

"Sure thing, when and where is it?"

"At three in the Beta." Lucy nodded and Lisanna agreed that they would make sure to be there to cheer her on. Erza smiled and the three of them said goodnight and left the dorm with waves and smiled.

When they were gone and the door was closed Lucy and Lisanna made quick work of the dishes and they were probably done within half an hour. When they stood in their bathroom washing their faces Lisanna said.

"Was the guy you slept with on Friday really so good you want to find him?" Lucy looked up at her reflection, a soft burn on her cheeks. She checked to see if there was any make-up left on her eyes. There wasn't.

"It's not really about the sex." she cupped her hands under the running water and splashed it over her face. To be honest, it was a little about the sex. In her drunken mind it had been amazing. Then again, she had been drunk and it was very possible that her intoxicated mind simply thought it had been that good while it really hadn't been.

"I'm mostly curious about who it was and who my drunken self deemed worthy to sleep with. I mean I don't remember making such a decision. So I want to know who it was." She said and splashed more water in her face.

"I still think it's Natsu." Lisanna said. Lucy smiled and dried her face. "You know, I'm so sure it's Natsu that I'm willing to bet 2500 jewles that by the end of next week you will either realize it or sleep with him again. I even bet double that you will do both." Lucy looked up at her with wide eyes.

"That's a lot of money Lisana, Are you sure? You haven't won a lot of bets lately." Lucy said and Lisanna grinned and held out her hand.

"A bet between you and me. If I'm wrong, I'll give you tripple."

"That's too much, I can't accept that." Lucy said.

"Fine. If you're right and it isn't him and you don't make a move on him or he a move on you by the end of next week I'll confess to Lyon that I like him in front of prof . Dreyar and I'll give his clothes back. All in one go." Lucy gulped.

"Wow, you're either really sure or really desperate to tell Lyon your feelings." Lucy said but reached for Lisanna's hand, took it and shook it. "Deal." Lucy said and hung her towel on a peg on the wall before she headed for bed. Lisanna who was also done follower her out into the dark living room but turned to face Lucy before stepping into her bedroom.

"To be honest Lucy." She said and blushed and looked down. Then she smiled. "I'm kinda hoping for both." She said and slipped into her bedroom and the door clicked shut softly. Lucy smiled and did the same.

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><p><strong>AN: So, when I wrote this, I asked myself, Whyyy did I choose Lyon for Lisanna to have a crush on. The answer, if you're wondering, is that Lyon is, for one a character that I quite like. Second, he's kinda smooth looking and third he was one of my easier choices to choose a sport for. I also didn't choose an ice sport for him because all the others I could think of was either figure-skating and that didn't work, or hockey which involved too much clothes. **

**I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. =) **

**See you Sunday! =D**


	5. Monday, Mira-Jane's assignment

**A/N: Hi Everyone! Update time! Yey! **

**Thanks for all the comments, favs and follows! On with the story! =D**

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><p>Monday<p>

Mira-Jane's assignment

Lucy's night had not been restful at all. She had tossed and turned alternating between dreams of Natsu and dreams of many-sized penises prancing about on a stage. Needless to say, it was disturbing. Adding to the fact that she only after waking remembered that they were performing for prof. Strauss that day had her shaking from head to toe when she got out of bed. She wrapped her robe tightly around herself even if she wasn't really cold, more afraid of messing up and afraid of prof. Strauss seeing her first self choreographed (with Lisanna of course) routine. She was so scared in fact that she actually had to put her bowl down and eat with her feet on the floor (which she rarely did) to avoid spilling.

Lisanna came out of her bedroom an hour before class started. She looked her usual morning-self. Her hair stuck up in odd angles and her face was pale. There was never such a thing as a good posture in Lisanna's body in the morning as she dragged her feet to the bathroom. Lucy knew not to greet her until she's either had a cup of coffee or a cold shower. When the water in the bathroom turned on Lucy assumed the latter and hoped that this time Lisanna would remember to take off her clothes before stepping into the shower. A moment later Lucy heard Lisanna's shout of "oh, FUCK!" and assumed she hadn't. Another few moments later the door opened and Lisanna's face poked through the opening. She looked more alert but still grumpy, that would be helped with breakfast.

"Fetch me some clothes would you?" She said and her voice reflected her bitterness. Lucy nodded and stood up. She brought Lisanna the first thing from her drawer and Lisanna grumbled a thanks and closed the door again. The shower turned on and twenty minutes later Lisanna stepped out of the bathroom, still grumpy but definitely awake. Her posture had increased dramatically.

Lucy handed her a bowl of yoghurt and müsli and Lisanna devoured it within a few moments. The accompanying tea went down just as fast although it was still scolding hot. Without a word Lisanna then got up from the kitchen table, grabbed her bag and was ready to go. Lucy didn't understand how the girl managed to do the same things she did (besides the shower) in almost half the time. But ready she was and so was Lucy and the two of them made their way across the law and to the dance halls.

School was already filled with people when they arrived. Everyone was dressed in sportswear. Everyone had their sport in the morning and in the afternoon they had regular classes organised into skill level. This was how Lucy had met Juvia and Gray a year before although they were two years ahead of her, Lisanna and Levy. Lucy had a knack for languages and had been bumped up two classes in short order. Levy only stayed with her for a term before she was bumped up another class.

Levy had been bumped up in almost every class, that was how she med Gajeel, she had classes with him almost every day (him being Natsu and Erza's age). Lucy had religion with Juvia and both she and Gray went to social science a class above their year. This was where she'd met Natsu for the first time and where she fell for him. Since Gray and Natsu were "friends" Gray also introduced Lucy to him and Natsu later introduced Lucy to Erza and so they had all become friends.

Juvia had been the last to bond with her (except for Gajeel, he wasn't really the bonding king of guy it seemed at the time and although they'd had a few conversations, he was too gruff for Lucy's taste). For the longest time Juvia would send her harsh glances whenever she was close and it took quite a while before she knew why. Juvia, who had fallen in love with Gray almost the moment she saw him was rather possessive and every other girl in his vicinity, she saw as a love rival. It had taken repeated efforts on Lisanna's part by telling Juvia that Lucy was interested in Natsu for her to stop. After that and before she and Gray had come to their arrangement, she had, at every opportunity, asked her about Gray. Who had he spoken to, what had he said, had he mentioned her? In the end, it had gotten on Lucy's nerves to a point that she got the three of them in a conversation and the left, leaving Juvia and Gray to fend for themselves. It had worked out better than she thought and both of them had thanked her afterwards, separately and both with red faces. Gray had sought a fight with Natsu straight after though and Lucy wasn't entirely sure what that had been about. From that moment on though, she had the suspicion that the two of them picked fights with each other for other reasons than their outspoken one - that they hated each other.

When Lucy and Lisanna arrived at the dancehall most of their class was already there warming up. Cana was giving out last minute pointers. Something stirred in Lucy's memory at the sight of her. Cana caught her glance and grinned. That grin. Bacchus! He was the one who had made her have a belly-shot off Natsu and him a belly-shot off her. She wasn't entirely sure if she should thank him or wish to punch him. Either way she mumbled an insult under her breath and dropped her bag next to Lisanna's and took out her dance shoes.

"Should we ask Cana for any last pointers?" Lisanna said tying her shoes. Her white hair hung in her eyes when she looked up at Lucy, her expression mirrored the fear that suddenly welled up in Lucy again. Lucy took a deep breath and sat down next to her. She caught sight of Aries across the room and waved. She, clad in pick came over. Lucy turned to Lisanna while Aries was still out of earshot.

"Do you think we need it?" Lisanna swallowed hard and Lucy forced herself to smile. She didn't think it looked convincing and her hand shook when she lifted it to pat Lisanna on the shoulder. "We'll be fine." She said although her voice cracked which made Lisanna laugh. That was all she really needed. Then Aries crouched down in front of them. She had put her pink curly hair into pigtails, only it was so curly that they merely looked like two balls.

"Lucy, sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say thank you." Lucy blinked at the girl, shook her head and raised her eyebrows.

"For what? What did I do?" It sounded more like a plea for a pardon than a curious question which was what Lucy had hoped for. She cringed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I mean thank you for Friday." Aries said. Lucy stared blankly at her.

"I have no idea that you're talking about." Aries giggled and her tiny hand covered her mouth.

"You were pretty drunk at the time. I'm sorry but it was a miracle that you were still on your feet. You dragged Loki to me and told him that if he didn't kiss me right then, you'd have Natsu kick his ass or lose his chance with me. He kissed me on the spot. So thank you." She smiled widely and blushed. Lucy did too.

"I'm glad I could help!" See, her drunk and sober selves almost always agreed. She wondered if Loke knew anything else about that night. She should find and ask him at lunch .

"Hey Aries, what do you remember about Friday?" Lucy asked, but at that moment prof. Strauss entered the room and everyone fell silent.

"I'll tell you after class." Aries whispered and stood to hurry to her things. her head was hanging and her hands tight in front of her. Lucy could swear that she whispered "sorry, sorry, sorry" the whole way there. Aries might be shy, Lucy thought, but she had seen the girl dance. When Aries danced, there was nothing shy about her, she owned the stage and the stage kissed her feet with tears in its eyes. Loki was a lucky guy.

Prof Strauss was a beautiful woman. Lucy had seen her in several magazines and knew she appeared in even more of them, both for men and women. Her full white hair cascaded over her back and she wore her fringe in a bun. Some might say she didn't have the body for a dancer, her chest was rather large and her hips wide but she was probably one of the best dancers (if not the best) in all of Fiore. She also had one of the kindest faces Lucy had ever seen. Even when she didn't smile, she seemed to be. Her eyes shimmered with constant inspiration and love for her craft.

Prof Strauss clapped her hands together and looked around the room with a smile.

"Alright class, time for warm-ups. For those of you who are later down the list, don't go all out, we'll take a break halfway through where you can get ready. When it's your turn you'll have the time of on routine and comments to get your bodies ready then two more minutes to prepare the room. I hope you all remembered the 'no props's' rule." A pair to Lucy's left gasped and slapped their hands across their mouths. they apparently had forgotten. Prof Strauss clapped her hands again and the entire class got to their feet, secured their shoes, Lucy finished tying hers and the entire class was up and running circles in the room.

At warm-up they were free to do their own routine as long as they didn't get in anyone's way and warmed up their body properly. In their first year they'h had several classes on what warm-up's were appropriate for what type of dance. Or rather, what areas were extra important in different dance-styles. since today's class was contemporary Lucy adjusted her warm-up accordingly.

They had 45 mins to warm up and once they were done Prof Strauss wasted no time and called up the first group and announced which three groups would be next. And so it began. The groups, or rather pairs danced their asses off and at the end prof Strauss gave pointers, went through particular steps and helped them improve, told them what to pay extra attention to and even gave them exercises to do to strengthen those areas. She encouraged those who had made their routines easier and said that you had to adapt your dancing to your level and challenge yourself from there or you would never improve. All of this only proved to Lucy how good of a teacher prof Straus was. She remembered almost the whole routine after just seeing it once and had apparently done every move they'd thought of. Nothing was new to her and she knew everything. It was amazing.

Of course there were pairs who had made it difficult for themselves. They'd used moves that were too hard for them or that their bodies couldn't handle just yet. In some cases Lucy knew that it was simple lack of practice since they'd done those particular moves in class before. The last pair that Lucy saw before it was their turn to get ready was one of them. Sherry Blendy seemed so excited that she overstepped her preparation for a spin and had to adjust the leg that was supposed to be outstretched in front of her (Judging by her partner's turn). The fall was almost inevitable. At the last moment Sherry tried to pull her leg in but she seemed so shockedherself that she wobbled and lost her balance, slipped and fell. The whole room held their breath and waited for a shout of yell from prof Strauss. It didn't come. Sherry and her partner finished their routine without any more difficulties and only when they were done did prof Strauss stand and went through the routine as she'd done with all the others.

Lucy's mouth fell open when she stood next to Lisanna to get ready. She stared and so did the rest of the class. Everyone stared and nobody moved a muscle until they were done. Then.

"Now," Prof Strauss said and her kind air changed dramatically. The two girls who were breathing hard after prof Strauss' walkthrough held their breath and took a few steps back. A few of the gossip-y kind in their class leaned forward in order to hear every words. Lucy cringed and wanted to look away but didn't dare move. Prof Strauss squinted and it was as if the air in the room would lift the hair off her shoulders. "Go and practice that for the rest of the day. Then at eight tonight I want you to do it again and this time, don't you _dare _mess it up!" The most disturbing thing was that she still spoke in her sweet and kind tone. Her smile was gone though and she glared. Her hands strained to stay relaxed at her side and shook which only added to the menace. Sherry and her partner didn't hesitate and ran out of the dance hall and only stopped to throw their bags over their shoulders.

Lucy felt sorry for them. They would have a long day.

Prof Strauss called up the next couple without further ado, her face returning to its calm and kind state, and Lisanna and Lucy went outside the hall to do some last minute warm-up and stretches.

They were quiet as the pulled at their legs in every which way. The hallways was empty and cold as always and although they exchanged last minute pointers Lucy was too nervous to actually look at Lisanna. When Lucy told Lisanna to remember some specific thing she had seen during their endless rehearsing Lisanna simply nodded and vowed to keep it in mind. When Lisanna added a comment of her own, Lucy used the exact same words. Lucy's heart hammered in her chest as if she'd just run a couple of kilometers and when they were called inside Lucy had to force her legs to move. She met prof Strauss' eyes and felt them all the while she put the CD in the stereo and she and Lisanna loosened their bodies one last time. Then prof. Strauss ordered them to start and Lisanna hit play. Lucy flinched and cursed in her mind and forced her body into the starting position. Then, suddenly, at the worst possible time she felt the back of her neck prickle and knew that someone who wasn't supposed to was watching her. She didn't have time to turn and look through the little window in the door but her body moved on it's own accord. Of course, the music started when it was supposed to and Lucy cursed loudly and forced her body to move. Curiosity coursed through her and her cheeks burned at her mistake and still her eyes moved to the door whenever she was turned in that direction. Who was watching her!? She cursed again, not as loudly this time and forced the unwanted spectator out of her mind, pushed at it with the force of her movements. At least her face had the right expression. A scowl at her own distraction, anger at the spy.

Only a few steps later she was completely in the game and in pace with Lisanna again. Her anger gave force to her movements and she danced all the harder because of it. Despite her anger, she danced with Lisanna as they had done all week long. Lucy felt, rather than saw their pirouettes unify into two blurring swirls. When they helped each other in various moves, they were as solid as rocks and they didn't even hesitate a little when they jumped into each other's arms to be caught.

Of course their routine wasn't only about technique. This was contemporary and they'd felt compelled to at least add a drop of story and sprinkled of feeling. Even if it wasn't the most important aspect of the assignment, to them the routine wouldn't have been complete without it.

They had allowed themselves to be a little creative when they choreographed the routine and to some extent a little bold. Not so bold as to add something they couldn't handle but rather something that was taxing on their bodies and that challenged them in their work. This was the reason they had rehearsed so intensely (and because they'd wanted to come as close to perfection as they could). In the end they knew that at least they'd done their best.

When Lucy felt the routine come to an end she felt herself wishing it wouldn't stop. They might had only worked with it for a week but it was one of the few routines she had ever created herself (with Lisanna), not to mention performed for a teacher. It felt like when she was a child and she'd drawn something and wanted her mother to pin it to the fridge so she could forever see it and be proud. Only she couldn't pin a dance to the fridge.

There was the last jump of the routine, assisted by Lisanna. There was last turn. They stopped facing each other, their hands intertwined. They struggled for a moment - part of the story, then Lucy landed on Lisanna's back and they moved to the ground as if going to sleep. Then, at the last impact of the music, their bodies lifted, hands in claws, legs in odd angles and glares at their reflection behind the wall of their fellow students.

The music ended, the class applauded and Lucy and Lisanna came to their feet panting. Prof Strauss clapped her hands too and moved forward. She smiled.

"Good." She said and a stone fell off Lucy's chest. She slumped forward in relief and felt suddenly as though she could breathe freely for the first time in her life. Then. "A few things. Lisanna, remember to control your attitude, keep it tucked nice and close and make sure that you don't lock your arms when you're nervous. Lucy, you need to focus more. I don't care how pretty the boy is, if you plan on being a dancer, you have to dance the way you did through the rest of the routine from the beginning. Your pointe is good but this is contemporary, don't overdo it. In your split jump you need more strength coming up and remember where you're going when you come down. Good routine, Good job."

Lucy's face was bright red, both from dancing and from the comment about her distraction. Who had watched her? What boy was prof. Strauss talking about? She hadn't seen anyone in the round window in the door. At the same time she and Lisanna had gotten the shortest comment and apparently prof Strauss thought that their routine was good enough not to have to go through every bit of it.

Prof Strauss clapped her hands again and Lucy and Lisanna sat down and the next pair came inside and got ready. Lucy felt a few pats on her back of fellow dancer's appreciation of their routine. It was a hand that said 'Good job'.

Lucy and Lisanna watched the rest of the class in turn perform and receive comments. Lucy liked almost all of what her classmates had created. She liked them in a way that if she had been presented with them for a show, she would have enjoyed learning them. It was probably one of the biggest honors she could give her fellow dancers. It was a "Hey, I'd dance your routine." And it wouldn't be out of sympathy. Lucy also knew that the hand on her back had meant the same thing. When she was close enough, Lucy gave others the same gesture.

Lucy's stomach started to growl by the time class was drawing to an end. Prof Strauss had just given the name of the last couple when it made such a rumble Lisanna looked at her and Lucy blushed. In quick succession though the last couple performed and received their comments All in all, it had been a good class. No one had cried and only one couple had been sent out.

Prof Strauss gave the last comment, nodded, then clapped her hands and turned to the class.

"Alright, you all know what you need to work on but for next week I have a little challenge for you." Lucy straightened her back and gulped. Prof Strauss smiled at all of them. "For next monday I want you to teach a non-dancer a simple routine that I will give you. Note that you're not allowed to choose any of the figure-skaters, gymnasts of any sport that uses choreography. If possible, bring this person to class on Monday and dance with him or her and I will tell you why you were given this assignment." She smiled again and clapped her hands together once. "Alright then." She said and moved to the head of the class, facing the mirror opposite the door. They all stood up and prepared to go through the steps.

Lucy immediately wondered who she should pick for such an assignment. Loki was easy to work with. Completely uncoordinated when it came to anything other than basketball, but still easy to work with. On the other hand, Aries would ask him the second they got out of class and it would be rude for Lucy to slip between them now. Levy would have been Lucy's go-to-girl but since she was a figure skater, that was out of the question. Erza had a competition the next day, she might be free afterwards. Otherwise Lucy would ask Gray or Juvia.

The routine was really simple, something along the lines of what children would learn in their first term of dance class. Only for adults. Even the most uncoordinated person would be able to learn it. Well, maybe not, but given enough time they would surely get the steps eventually.

As soon as prof Strauss was done going through the steps she had them all repeat it without her and when the time hit 12 they were all done. The bell rang telling them it was time for lunch and the whole class moved to grab their things, change shoes and head for the showers. The first girl to leave was Aries, Lucy wasn't even surprised.

Lucy met Lisanna's eyes who with a nod confirmed that they would indeed eat at their usual spot - Fiore Academy's Café - Fairy Tail. Gray, Juvia and Erza would probably be there too and Lucy and Lisanna hurried through the shower and changed. In the hall Lucy pulled out a soft pink sweater and pulled it over her white top, she wished she had worn jeans instead of shorts, it was always so cold! She waited for Lisanna who had stopped to stare at her phone. She had been vigilant enough to wear something warmer in light blue jeans and a baby blue top. She grinned then tapped a message. Lucy wondered who she was writing but forgot to ask when she was suddenly at her side pulling her along by the arm.

"Come on, Erza and Juvia are already waiting." She said and practically dragged Lucy through the halls.

Lunch at Fairy Tail was probably one of Lucy's favourites times of the day. It wasn't so much for the food, rather for the people and the atmosphere. She might think that whoever had named the place had a strange sense of humour but the people were nice, the food decent and it felt like a second home. In short, she loved it. Double doors lead into the big hallways of Beta and straight ahead were the wooden doors of Fairy Tail, to the left and right large corridors led to the various competitions halls. The inside of Fairy Tail were clattered with a strange collection of tables and chair. Every one was different from the other and they still managed to fit together perfectly. Wood covered the floor and the far wall behind the bar. Behind the bar was a staircase that only the teachers were allowed to use. And Erza for some reason.

Speaking of which, she and Juvia sat at a table a bit off to the right waving at them. Levy, dressed in a yellow dress was heading for the table as well, her hands ladened with food and a few books stacked on a tray. Lisanna dragged Lucy towards them and pushed her down on the bench next to Juvia. Both of them greeted the others. Erza wore her usual grey shirt and her red hair covered some of her right eye. She must have already eater her lunch since she seemed to be savouring every little piece of strawberry cake on a plate in front of her. She must be savouring it, Erza couldn't possibly pick at strawberry cake. Juvia wore blue as she so often did, matching her blue hair that hung in one curl to her shoulders. She wasn't eating.

"How was class?" Levy asked and opened a book against the other two so she could read while she ate. She waited for Lucy to answer before even turning to it though.

"Fine, No one cried luckily." She said and Levy nodded with a knowing smile. Prof. Strauss was her teacher too.

"Apparently Lucy got distracted by a pretty boy. If she hadn't we would have gotten the best scores in class." Lisanna said standing behind Lucy.

"Shut up. I didn't even see who it was." Lucy said with a frown and a small blush. Levy and Juvia grinned and Lisanna shrugged.

"You want anything?" Her question was for Lucy.

"Sure. Something with pasta and chicken." She said and Lisanna moved to the bar to order.

"What about this weeks assignment? Anything exciting?" Levy asked and looked up from her book, a finger at the spot she had just been reading. A fork full of chicken was halfway to her mouth, it had been there for a while. What was she reading anyway? 'Advanced Literature science. Rosetta Stone' Light reading for Levy in other words. Lucy sighed.

"We have to teach a non-dancer a routine. Anyone interested? Sorry Levy, prof Strauss specified no figure skaters." Lucy raised her eyebrows hopefully at Erza and Juvia. Erza shook her head.

"I don't have time. With the competition and analysis, I'll be busy for the next two weeks." She said. Right, Lucy had forgotten that Erza always analysed her fights to pieces. She turned to Juvia.

"Juvia has a competition on Sunday, she doesn't have time either." She said. Lucy groaned and slumped on the table. Stupid competition season, now she had to ask Gray. Almost all of his competitions were held in winter after all. It was better than nothing she supposed.

"Lucy, why don't you ask Natsu?" Erza asked and with another sigh Lucy pulled herself up and was just about to tell Erza to stop obsessing about her and Natsu (which probably would have gotten her a deathglare and a dussin imaginary swords in the chest) But just as she opened her mouth to speak a voice behind her spoke.

"Ask me what?" At that moment she saw that Erza's eyes were fastened on a person behind Lucy and she spun around. The man himself stood behind her, tall and handsome, as always. How was it that he so often appeared when she was thinking of him. Lucy remembered Lisanna's words from the night before about how when Lucy felt the need to look for someone Natsu would appear. And she remembered the prickling at the back of her neck at dance class. Had it been him? Stupid, stupid, handsome man! He couldn't just go around and distract her from dancing!

He sat down next to Lucy, his black shirt stuck to him with sweat and a few strands of his pink hair clung to his forehead. Lucy's hand twitched and she had to fight the impulse to brush the hair away. She noticed then that he was a little out of breath as if he'd been running there. He wasn't showered from that morning's work-out and he looked to have come straight from there.

"Ask you to help Lucy with a routine for an assignment." Erza said and Lucy wanted to punch her. At the same time her heart made summersault and she bit her lip, if only he said yes.

Natsu perked up and his elbow rubbed against her. Lucy shuddered from the heat and nearly leaned against him. Another impulse she had to fight. Natsu looked at her she felt the prickling at her neck. She insisted on staring on a particular grain of wood on the table and she traced it with her fingernail. If only he would say yes.

"Sure, I'll help you." Natsu said and Lucy blushed. Why was he even here? He rarely ate at Fairy Tail, at least Lucy had rarely seen him there. Why now all of the sudden? Lucy let her eyes wander across the room. They landed on Lisanna who was insisting on keeping her back towards them when she always waited for their food with her back to the counter. Lucy cursed Lisanna and swore she would get back at her. She could only imagine her smug face if she could see Lucy's blush. Lucy forced a smile, determined that Lisanna wouldn't win this round, and turned to Natsu. His face was glistening from sweat and his shirt was wet with sweat down most of his front. It showed off how magnificently well his chest was toned and Lucy had to force herself not to stare and keep her eyes in appropriate places. But his shirt looked as though he had taken a bath in it and it clung to him in all the right ways.

"You don't have to, really. I'm sure you're busy." He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"I don't have shit to do! With my win on Thursday, Gildarts practically told me to go home this morning. I had to convince him to give me a lesson. Please let me help you! I need something to do!" Lucy's eyes were wide. Had she just heard him right? Had the Salamander actually said please? Lucy snapped her jaw shut but couldn't keep her eyes from widening. Natsu had such puppy-dog eyes, his bottom lip almost in a pout. The only thing lacking from the picture were his hands clasped in front of him and he would look like a desperate saint praying. Lucy looked away.

"Come one Lucy, don't leave the guy hanging, he looks ready to burst into tears!" Came Lisanna's voice and Lucy turned to scowl at her. Lisanna had a wide smile on her face and held out the tray for Lucy to take. It contained her steaming food. "Gray's already taken, I don't think there's anyone else we know left who doesn't have a competition coming up soon."

"You'd want Gray rather than me?! I'm way better than that ice-cube! I'll show you Luce! You won't regret it!" Natsu shouted. Lucy shook her head at Lisanna whose smile turned into a grin. She moved around the table and sat down next to Erza. Her eyes were in a suspicious squint at her.

"Lisanna's right, Lucy." Erza said after a moment without moving her eyes from Lisanna who started eating her tomato soup and chicken salad happily. "It's competition season, Natsu's probably your best bet." Lucy scowled at Erza but she didn't look at her.

"Fine, you can help." Lucy told Natsu without looking at him. He thrust his fists into the air and yelled

"YES!" A few people around their table gave them weird looks. Natsu, unconcerned, dropped his arms after a short moment and turned to Lucy. "I have condition though." He said and Lucy raised her eyebrows.

"And what would that be?" Natsu thought for a moment, then grinned and swung his legs over the bench to leave. His shoulder brushed Lucy's arm again. It was warm.

"I don't know yet. I'll tell you tonight." He grinned and hurried away with a hand in the air. Lucy stood and turned, a confused frown on her face.

"Tonight?! Why tonight?!" She shouted after him and felt her heart fluttering and skipping in her chest. And, oh goodness, was that a smile creeping onto her lips? She forced it away and told herself that she was not happy about being tricked into things.

"For practice! I meet you at five thirty!" Natsu shouted across the hall, the smile was back on Lucy's face.

"Where?!" She yelled back but Natsu had already turned a corner and was out of earshot. Where was he running to in such a hurry all of the sudden? People were looking at her strangely for having shouted so loudly and quickly she sat down again. When she turned back around to face the table Erza, Juvia, Levy and especially Lisanna grinned at her. She wiped the smile off her face.

"Shut up." She said and shoved a forkful of food into her mouth. Natsu would have been proud of her. Levy raised her hands in a "don't blame me" sort of way and turned back to her book. Erza and Juvia exchanged a short laugh and Lisanna displayed her grin for the whole world to see.

After a while though while Lucy was still eating the four girls at her table took up a conversation to lighten the mood. The topic landed on Erza's upcoming competition against Kagura Mikasuchi. They had seen Erza defeat opponents that seemed impossibly strong but Erza had almost always come out on top. Her advantage was at times a disadvantage - she was versatile. No one knew as many different ways of fighting traditional martial arts and swordfight as Erza. This was an advantage in freestyle martial arts especially but a disadvantage when the style was set since Erza's strength lay in her ability to adapt and change her way of fighting to match her opponent. The best way to fight someone doing Karate was to throw them on the floor and put a 'lock' on them after all, they didn't train on how to get out of locks.

Kagura Makasuchi however had only ever done one style - her own. The Undrawn Sword technique. Even Erza hadn't heard of it until a few years ago when the two of them were in a competition at the same time. They didn't fight each other then but Erza had been able to observe her and she had been able to observe Erza. Now Kagura had challenged Erza in a freestyle fight, something only the mad or stupid did and Kagura seemed to be neither. Since the formal challenge had been placed, Erza had been training endlessly. Since she didn't know what exactly she was up against, she had gone through everything she knew time and time again. Had Lucy not known Erza she would have thought she was nervous, but fighting was in Erza's veins. If she didn't want to fight or perfect her skill or become better, the world would surely implode.

At 1 pm. a bell told the start of afternoon classes. Levi collected her things at once, told them goodbye and hurried off. At the end of the hall Lucy saw her meet Gajeel and they kissed. Lucy smiled, they were such a cute couple. That reminded Lucy that she never asked if the two of them were an official couple yet or if they wanted a few more dates in their luggage before deciding such a thing. Gray and Juvia didn't work as a couple after all. Gray never showed his feeling for her and instead they slept together on occasion. Juvia was still head over heals for Gray and she accepted him as he was. Lucy admired her for it. Levy and Gajeel were probably trying out the couple-thing before deciding anything and committing to each other. Who knew, after all, maybe being fuck-buddies was exactly what they needed.

Erza walked off in her own direction and Juvia, Lisanna and Lucy headed to their shared religion class. That afternoon Lucy would have religion, math and english, each 35 mins long and classes were over at 4.

The afternoon went by fast. Lucy liked religion and thought it interesting. She didn't care much for math even though she was decent at it and she was pretty good at English and practically cruised through the three hours. When class was over though, anxiety coursed through her. The moment she stepped through the door of her english classroom her heart thumped hard and a blush covered her cheeks.

She wasn't entirely sure why she was nervous but it didn't matter how many deep breaths she took, her heart simply wouldn't calm down. She tried to tell herself what it was a simple and normal dance class like that of her Saturdays. She told herself that Natsu was a simple student and it would be fine. But she didn't believe it, she couldn't lie to herself. So instead she paced the living room. Lisanna was in her room probably doing something on her computer. It was probably for the best, it Lucy saw that grin of hers again she was surely going to slap her; the grin hadn't left her face for three hours. She denied it having anything to do with Natsu's sudden drenched appearance but Lucy didn't believe it.

At 5 pm Lucy was too restless to stay in the dorm and yelled at Lisanna that if Natsu showed up she should tell him that she'd gone to the dance hall already, and she didn't wait for a response. She just knew that Lisanna would grin again if she saw her. So Lucy grabbed her bag and hurried outside, across the lawn and into the disturbingly cold hallway that lead to the dance halls. Seriously! Why was the place so cold! Lucy could swear it wasn't even that bad outside! And since it was autumn already, that was saying something.

In the dance hall Lucy dropped her bag by the door and went to stand in the middle of the floor. Three walls of mirrors reflected her lonely figure clad in black, white and blue. She put her hair in a sideways ponytail and looked at the time. It was 5.15. There wasn't even time to warm up if she wanted to. Natsu would be there. Natsu. Would he take directions easily? How would he look dancing contemporary? How would he look doing a pirouette? Lucy wanted to laugh but the image that popped up in her head was strangely erotic.

She lay down on the floor and put her feet in the air since she had nothing else to do than to listen to some far-off music of someone else rehearsing. she heard feet hit the ground and could tell that two people were dancing, probably from her own class trying to get a head start. Then again, it might be the pair that prof Strauss ordered to rehearse until eight that evening.

Slowly she started pointing and flexing her feet. It was a rather common gesture for her. She had done it so many times over the years that it was near second nature to simply point and flex, point and flex, point and flex. Time might as well stand still when she did.

Then she heard the door open and she sat up, turned and faced Natsu. He wore black shorts and a grey sleeveless shirt. For the second time that day she had to force herself not to stare at his body. Instead she stood and smile, he did too but nervously so.

"Is this okay?" He asked and looked down at himself, indicating his clothes. It was an excuse for her to look at him again and she took it gladly. When their eyes met Lucy smiled with a nod and waved him inside like she would any student. He dropped his scarf by her bag, a towel and a water bottle and came to stand in front of her. Lucy noted that, although he looked nervous enough to quiver, he was probably the most stable people she had ever seen. She wanted to reach out and push his shoulder, just to see if he would move or not.

"So how does this dancing work?" He said and Lucy laughed shortly but covered her mouth. Natsu's calm and composed expression didn't change but he crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Lucy's eyes followed the movement of his arms on their own accord. For the first time she saw him without his scarf, it looked strange, as if he was missing his nose. The scarf was part of him, he looked incomplete without it. Lucy cleared her throat and straightened her face. Only then did she realize how close he stood and she used the excuse of pulling up her leg warmers to step away a bit. Although she in no way wanted him further away, she could gladly have him closer, but for the purpose of dance class, that wouldn't do.

"Well." She started. "Dancing isn't that easily explained. It takes years for your bodies movements to come to your mind's understanding… but you're talking about my assignment, of course you are… then basically I'll show you some steps and you copy until you think you can do them on your own and then we match it to music. Slow at first so you can get used to a beat and then slowly to the way it's supposed to be done." Lucy said and suddenly hoped he would be able to follow a beat. If he didn't she would have to use a completely different teaching method. Natsu nodded understandingly.

"So show me the steps, is it like, sideways walking? this doesn't sound too hard." Lucy caught herself before laughing again and had to remind herself that Natsu knew absolutely nothing about dancing, the terms or probably everything else. She took a deep breath and swallowed.

"No. A step is simply what we call a move, it's not always a step like when you walk. It can be a lift of an arm." She demonstrated bringing her arms through the five positions; in front of her stomach, out to the sides, right arm up, left arm in front of her stomach and both arms over her head. "A sweep of your leg." She brought her leg up, in front and moved it around and back. "It can be a kick or a pirouette." She kicked her leg high, came down and did a pirouette. "They're just called steps." Natsu looked a bit paler and the muscles in his legs strained against the cloth of his shorts.

"You're not gonna make me kick that high, are you? I don't think I can do that." He said and his voice even sounded a little shaky. Lucy laughed and put, what she hoped to be a comforting hand on his shoulder. He stiffened and Lucy couldn't be sure. She took her hand away and stepped back again. Natsu relaxed a bit but didn't release the strain on his legs. Lucy had no idea what that was about.

"Okay, let's get started. We'll do some warming up first." She said and moved to the stereo and turned on some upbeat music but with low enough volume that she didn't have to shout above it.

"Just follow my lead. I'll take it easy." She said and moved to stand a bit in front of him.

Lucy soon realized that Natsu had quite a good at holding on the beat which was a huge relief to her. For dancing it was a necessity. Sure it was possible to dance without a beat but it made teaching infinitely harder for her. That at least was one problem crossed off her list. Another problem was immediately added to the list though, something she hadn't accounted for. Natsu was very bad at following her movements. Not because she moved in particularly difficult ways but because Natsu wanted to react to them. When Lucy moved up an arm, his came up to block it. When she lifted her leg he brought his up to protect from a blow. That was not going to work.

"Okay, stop." She shouted and jogged to turn off the music. When she came back she faced him and told him her observation. Natsu blushed slightly but stood proudly. And he should be, Lucy thought. Those reflexes were probably partly why he was such a good fighter. It simply didn't belong in dancing.

"Let's try something else." Lucy said and move closer. Natsu gulped and paled again. His leg muscles strained again. What was up with that?

"We're gonna do the mirror. I'll let you start so I can show you. Move slowly, try and stay face to face." Natsu nodded and did as he was told. At least he took instructions well.

He lifted his left arm out to the side. Lucy followed his movement. He raised his eyebrows in understanding and moved his other arm as if to confirm what he had just grasped. For a few minutes they moved around the room, Lucy ever mirroring Natsu's slow movements.

"Good." Lucy said after a while and both of them set their feet down and let their hands drop. "Now you follow me." And he did. It was slow going at first. Several times he had to straighten the arm he'd put up to block and it seemed to be difficult to move as she did. Eventually though, after he shook himself like a dog and took a few deep breaths, he seemed to get a hang on it. Lucy could see though how hard it was for him. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his skin glistened with moisture. And she found it rather annoying that it made him look incredibly sexy.

When Natsu was following her moves with more or less no problem Lucy moved gradually faster and in more difficult ways. As long as she faced him though and as long as he kept his eyes on her he managed to follow her in whatever way she moved.

Deep in her stomach she felt a faint fluttering but she had to force it away or it would distract her. It was difficult and Natsu's intense black eyes made her heart flutter too. She felt a soft blush creep onto her cheeks and a distinctive throbbing between her legs. Damn the man for his motor skills. She turned away from him.

"Okay, let's try that warm up again. Follow what I do like you did just now and you'll be fine." She said but didn't look at him.

"Aren't we done with warming up yet?" Natsu asked in a heavy and husky voice. It sent a shiver down Lucy's spine. She smiled and watched him wipe a hand over his forehead in the mirror. She didn't say anything though, instead she jogged to the stereo and turned on the music again. Natsu shook his head, his hair flung around his face and a few strands stuck to his face. Lucy didn't waste time getting going. Now that Natsu knew what to do he wasn't a trainwreck. He was simply a beginner and that was exactly what prof. Strauss wanted. By the time warm-up was done Lucy was comfortably warm and Natsu was less comfortably breathing hard. She probably worked him harder than she would any other beginner, but he was an athlete, he should be able to take it.

"Now let's stretch." Lucy said and sat herself on the floor. Natsu followed suit gulping a few more mouthfuls of air before breathing through his nose again. "Put your legs straight in front of you and reach with your hands to your toes. Try and keep your back straight for as long as possible. You should feel this in the back of your thighs. If it burns at the back of our knees, bend them a little." He could reach his feet without any problems and he even kept his head down for the duration of the stretch. Good, Lucy though, at least he wasn't one of those who thought that stretching was completely useless. Lucy led him through the stretches one by one and more out of habit than anything else told him where he should feel the stretch and where he shouldn't. She had repeated those instructions so many times in class, they came naturally to her. Natsu followed her instructions without complaint or difficulties and was surprisingly flexible. Only when she turned to him and stretched her legs to the sides did he hesitate. Lucy held out her hands for him to take as if she wanted him to pull her up. He hesitated again.

"What… are you doing?" He said and scratched his neck nervously. His legs were tensing up again. Seriously, that was going to be in the way at this stretch and he'd get himself a cramp if it continued.

"Just sit in front of me, take my hands and put your feet here." Lucy said and tapped the insides of her tights half way up. Natsu swallowed hard, nodded and sat down in front of her. Hesitantly he placed his feet on her legs. His legs were stretched out and strained. "Come a little closer and take my hands. Bend your knees." Lucy said and held out her hands again. He took them reluctantly and Lucy held them tight. They were warm and a distant part of her told her that she'd had that thought before. "Pull at my hands and push with your feet." Lucy instructed and smiled. Natsu smiled back weakly but did as he was told and when he did Lucy felt the sting of the stretch in her legs. She winced but when she felt Natsu slacken his pull, hurried to stay "No, hold a bit longer." He pulled a bit harder and her legs went in a perfect split. She leaned forward, taking deep breaths to ease the sting. Her eyes closed and she concentrated on letting her legs relax to ease the sting even further. The more she relaxed and the more she breathed, the closer she came to the floor. Not until she felt heat radiating from in front of her did she open her again and was confronted with Natsu's mid thigh. It took a moment for her to realize why that position was inappropriate and with a gasp she jerked up, blushed and looked away. Slowly she pulled her legs together, shook them a little to ease off the strain. When she looked up Natsu was looking at her curiously, a soft smile playing on his lips. Lucy cleared her throat.

"Your turn?" Her face reddened again and she cursed herself for it. Stupid handsome man being all… handsome. Natsu's face too reddened a bit but he spread his legs and Lucy places her feet just above his knees. He wasn't as flexible as she but still quite impressively so. He could nearly have buried his stomach in her knees. But he didn't and Lucy suspected that he held himself back on purpose. She was about to tell him to relax and push into the stretch but his red face and his black eyes stubbornly set on a spot behind her made her not.

When Natsu pulled back Lucy let him go without complaint although he hadn't stretched nearly long enough. He looked very uncomfortable though as he scratched his neck and stood up. He looked as though his underwear were suddenly very uncomfortable and really needed adjusting but he didn't seem to feel like doing it, not in front of her. She wasn't sure if she should ignore it and go on or tell him that if he needed to he could adjust whatever what in a squish. No use having your balls twist around themselves. Not that she knew what that felt like.

After a moments hesitation Lucy decided to ignore his discomfort. If he wanted to adjust things, he could do so without her permission. She turned away from him.

"Okay. Remember the mirror from earlier? I need you to follow me like that again. I'm gonna show you the steps for the routine now." Lucy said and after a few deep breaths Natsu nodded, shook his right leg and moved closer to her. "Are you ready?" She asked and Natsu's trademark grin spread out over his face.

"Let's do this." He said and punched his fist into his hand.

And so it began. Lucy went through the steps a few at a time and Natsu mirrored her. Then she would redo the same movements over and over so he could get used to them. The more they repeated the faster Lucy moved until she moved at a speed where it was no longer enough for Natsu to just follow he, but where he actually had to dance himself. In the mirror Lucy could see that choreography was rather difficult for Natsu. He could do the moves for sure but putting them together was foreign to him. Lucy liked to watch him move. In his own way, he moved very elegantly. He could keep his back straight and proud when he needed to but also bend, twist and turn in more ways than that proud posture suggested. It was delicious and a very very inappropriate, but massive turn-on. How could he look so clumsy, elegant and sexy all at the same time. All she knew was that she could watch him for an eternity.

What had Erza said yesterday when they were talking about Lucy's mystery lover? If however her mystery lover had moved gave her any clues about who it might have been. She har thought that she should watch Natsu in more "vigorous movements". Although dance wasn't exactly what she had thought of the day before, it definitely counted as vigorous activity. That thought made her watch Natsu even more intently. How did his body curl when he bent backwards. How did his foot support his back when he lifted his other off the ground. How did he stand with both feet firmly on the floor when his knees bent and he moved his arms. How did his hair fling around his face when he turned and how did it whip to his neck when he quickly threw his head up. How did he move so brilliantly when he wasn't a dancer? Lucy watched and was absorbed by his dancing. She almost forgot that she was dancing herself.

That made her stop dead and Natsu in turn, did too. He looked at her and as she stared, transfixed, his expression grew more and more worried.

"Am I doing it wrong?" He asked eventually. He sounded like someone who knew he was doing a bad job but couldn't do anything about it. His words were so soft and worried; it took Lucy a moment to register them. She shook her head.

"No." She hesitated and licked her lip. She had to force her eyes away from his chest but they only landed on his stomach, his legs, his hips, his arms and his feet. She wanted him to move again. She shook her head again and forced herself to meet his gaze. "No, not at all, you're actually much better than I thought. You pick up on things quickly." She said and Natsu let out a breath. His shoulders sagged a bit.

"I'm not a dancer." He said and although he looked relieved, he shrugged and looked away. Lucy smiled.

"That's the point though, isn't it. For my assignment." He looked at her. His intense gaze sent sparks through her chest. She wanted to move with him again. Oh, to mix that head of his with the move of his body made Lucy blush and look away. She swallowed hard and forced herself to focus. Then she looked at Natsu again and felt her knees wobble.

"Do you want to keep going or are you done for today? We've gone through about half of the routine." She said. She had to keep her eyes steadily on his or they would drift to his shirt that grew ever more drenched with sweat and clung to his well-defined chest. She wanted to cling to him like that shirt did. Natsu shrugged and kept his eyes firmly on hers too. He breathed deeply through his exertion. He wasn't used to the pace of dancing either. He didn't waver though but stood strong. Lucy loved it.

"It's okay if you don't want to. You can learn the rest another day." Lucy said and looked down at the floor. She saw his feet shift uncertainly but he didn't move away.

"Will you dance on your own if you stop teaching me?" He asked eventually and Lucy looked up. He looked calm, or rather, like he forced his face to not to show any emotions. His voice held a layer of disappointment though, mixed with an air of anticipation which Lucy thought weird. He swallowed and frowned a bit. His legs tensed up again. Lucy looked at her bag thinking about what she had brought with her. She could do Jazz or contemporary. although she preferred ballet, she hadn't brought her pointe shoes. She nodded when her eyes met Natsu's again.

"Probably. Why?" She said. Natsu shrugged and looked at the floor. His leg muscles tensed even further.

"Can I watch?" He asked and didn't meet her eye. Lucy blushed. He wanted to watch her dance. No one had ever asked to watch her dance. People just came by the dance hall, stopped and watched for a while and then went on. She never cared who they were or even if they were there. More often than not, she didn't even notice that anyone was looking at her. But she wouldn't forget Natsu again. Not after Saturday, his watching her would be different.

"Um…" Lucy hesitated. She didn't mind being watched normally. She just wasn't sure if she would be able to concentrate on her dancing if he watched her with those dark and intense eyes of his. Before she could make up her mind though, Natsu stepped back and raised his hands.

"If you don't want me to, I understand." And before Lucy could think about her words she stepped forward and held out her own hands as if she was reaching for him.

"No, It's fine, stay." Natsu's mouth was still open and he stopped as if he had been petrified. He looked more like a painting than a person the moment it took for him to work through her words. Lucy was thankful for it; it gave her time to realize her own words. It gave her time to want him to stay, and to blush deep red.

Eventually he clamped his mouth shut with a snap and smiled as if he'd never had a hurt in his life. Lucy's heart made a summersault.

"Okay, thanks." Natsu said in a low voice, almost a whisper that sent a shiver down Lucy's spine. She turned to the mirror and looked herself in the eye. What was up with those reactions? But her eyes drifted to Natsu's body and she had to force herself to meet her own eyes again. When she did, she promised herself that if he wanted to see her dance, then she would dance like there was no tomorrow. He would see her at her best, working her hardest and she would show him why she loved to dance, or better yet, make him love dance too. And she would not be distracted by him. She would use his presence to dance even harder. She didn't understand why it was so important to her or why Natsu was the root of it. She only knew that her feelings were true.

Out of nowhere one of her all time favourite songs came on the speakers and with a gasp she spun to Natsu. He stood with his finger on the play button and a grin on his face. He really did want to see her dance. He might not even want to _see_ her dance. With that look of intensity behind that knee-buckling grin, Lucy was sure that he wanted to see _her_ dance. He probably didn't even care how she danced, only that she did.

Without further ado, she danced.

Natsu sat down by the stereo, his elbows on his knees, his hands supporting his head. Lucy felt his eyes on her rather than saw them. It prickled at the back of her neck and for the first time when she'd had that feeling she didn't have to wonder who was watching her. They were following her every move. They followed her leg when it went up or to the sides. They met her eyes although hers were closed. They curled with her body as it twisted with the music, were steady with her when she spun and flew when she jumped. It could only mean that _he _was watching her. Natsu. No one could match those eyes. They were like hands on her skin. Touching and easing every muscle that strained to make her body move the way she wanted, gliding along every limb she lifted to guide it through space. His eyes roamed over her body in hot caresses like hands of that of a lover. When she moved and his eyes moved with her she felt as if he was there dancing with her, his body close and in unison with hers. His hot body pressed against her's like kisses on her skin, a hot breath on her neck when they pushed against each other in their dance. His eyes brushed her lips, soft as a finger, a pair of lips that teased a moan of desperation from her. She wanted his lips on her. She wanted him to move with her, to touch her, suck her skin. She wanted him to take her, wrap his arms close around around her. She wanted him to stop her, and fuck her.

She stopped abruptly. The music was silent and although the hall still echoed with her lingering steps and her pants, the silence clung to the air like two desperate people clung to each other in one last embrace. There was a click of the stereo being turned off. Had she danced that long or was it Natsu who had turned it off? Did he see her need for silence at that moment or did he see her sudden realization that made her want to rip his clothes off? Did he see something in Lucy that even she hadn't realized yet? Either way, she didn't dare look at him, afraid that her eyes would betray her. She hoped her pants weren't too hitched, her face too red, her body too rigid and that her eyes wouldn't spill all her secrets. At least one thing was for sure. If Natsu was in fact her mystery lover, she only wished she could remember every last detail of it.

With a loud groan Lucy sprawled on the floor, hands and feet spread to the sides as if she was going to make a snow-angel. There was a shift in the corner of the room and without looking she knew that Natsu had stood up. She just hoped he would stay quiet. She wasn't sure if she could handle if voice or his closeness just yet.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Lucy wanted to moan at the softness of his voice and she balled her hands into fists, pushed her fingernails deep into the palms of her hands to stay quiet at all costs. He was so close she could almost feel his breath on her. His voice low and filled with worry, it sent a pounding pulse through her entire body. She wanted him to go away so the pounding between her legs could go away. Or better yet, she wanted him to make it go away, in any way he liked. She wanted him to fuck her into heaven.

She stiffened another groan that would have resembled more of a moan.

"I'm fine, just …" What? 'Don't move' 'Stop talking', 'I've never wanted anyone more than you.', 'Fuck me senseless, please!' "Resting." Silence. Were her hands still to the sides? She wiggled them. Yes. Good. She wasn't planning on touching herself with an audience. Especially when the audience was someone she wished would to the touching. "How long did I dance for?" Lucy asked. Partly to force those thoughts out of her mind and to fill the thickening silence. Another pause.

"Not sure. An hour I think." Lucy nodded and sighed. That should make it close to 8 in the evening. Time to go home and sleep. At least she had that excuse to get out of his distracting presence. She sat up, still not daring to look at him. She looked at her feet instead. Pointed and flexed a couple of times, moved her feet in those ways that had made Natsu cringe on Saturday. She didn't need the floor to move her feet that way after all.

A sudden closeness made her look up. Natsu stood in front of her, a soft smile on his face. She blushed. A blush was better than a moan. He sat down and took her right foot in his hands. Lucy stiffened, her foot went rigid and she sucked in a breath. He was only touching her foot but his touch sent a string of shivers up and down her spine. His touch was one of the last things she needed just then, and the exact thing she wanted with all of her being. A wave of heat pushed through her as he gently pushed his thumb against the arch of her foot. The muscle complained deliciously and before she could hold it in, a soft moan escaped her lips. Her head fell back and she balled her hands into fists again, concentrating on her breathing while he kneaded away at her foot.

Where had he learned to handle feet like that? And why was he treating her feet? Oh, it felt so good to have her feet taken care of like that. The pads of her feet were hardened from use and her toes were callused from all the pointe work. The thought had he jerk upright and pull her foot back. Only Natsu held onto her foot and she only pulled herself closer to him. He met her eyes, he stared right into her. That bothersome need to explain herself pushed a blush across her cheeks. 'They are dancer's feet!' She wanted to tell him but no words left her lips. 'I wouldn't be able to dance the way I do if my feet didn't look like that!' and 'I need my feet to be like this.'

Natsu held her foot tight, his legs crossed under him, not even a meter away from her. He pushed his thumb along the arch of her foot again making the muscle complain and Lucy closed her eyes with a groan.

"Does it hurt?" Natsu asked but by the way he said it, he knew that it didn't. Lucy shook her head anyway and let out a very inappropriate groan when Natsu's thumb pushed against another tense muscle. She felt Natsu's leg tense again but his hands didn't let up. When her right foot was raw and felt as soft as dough, Natsu put it down at his side, her knee brushing his hip, and picked up her left foot to give it the same treatment. When he was done he put that leg on his other side and he practically sat between her legs. Lucy blushed but Natsu looked at his hands.

"I know how you feel about your feet." He said and turned his hands around to look at the backs at them, then he held them out to her. She took his left hand in both of hers and brought it close. With her thumb she brushed over the hard skin on his knuckles. Scars littered his hands especially around the knuckles and fingers. Some of them were also on the palms of his hands in a line where his nails would be if he closed his hand to a fist.

"Those who don't fight don't understand why I would give up hands like yours for hands like mine because of a sport." He said. Lucy looked at him.

"And most non-dancers don't understand why I would willingly wear shoes that make my feet look like this. Why I would dance my feet bloody on a regular basis and then keep on dancing." She said.

"After seeing you dance today. I completely understand." Natsu said in a low voice, so low in fact that Lucy almost didn't hear it. She blushed and shivered warmly. She dropped his hand. She could have thrown herself at him, kissed him, ripped off his clothes and have those rough hands touch her all over, but she didn't. Natsu turned away and looked down at his hands again, stroking the areas that Lucy had just touched, a soft blush on his cheeks.

"I'm sure I would understand the way you do if I got to see you fight sometime." Lucy said and smiled. Natsu as good as lit up. He looked ecstatic, as though no one had ever actually wanted him to fight and watch it. Then again, maybe no one ever had. He didn't say anything but simply kept his eyes on hers. It was as if he was reading her like an open book. Lucy only hoped that he didn't see as much as a book would tell him. Then his smile turned to his famous grin.

"I thought of my condition!" He said. Lucy frowned.

"What condition?"

"The one I told you about at lunch. I said I'd help you on one condition." Natsu said. Lucy's heart skipped a beat and suddenly wished that his condition would be for her to kiss him. She would do it gladly.

"Come with me to my practice on Thursday. I'll teach you some MMA." Lucy opened her mouth but no words came out. Natsu grinned even wider ."Since it's my condition, the answer will be yes. Great! Now let's get out of here, I'm starving." He jumped to his feet and held out his hands to offer to pull her up. Lucy looked at him for a while with wide eyes. He was impossible handsome and when he beckoned she didn't hesitate to reach up and take his hands. For the first time she actually noticed that his hands were indeed rough to touch. But when he pulled her up to her feet he was delicate and strong and careful. He pulled her up with ease.

Despite his easy movements Lucy nearly fell into his arms when she was on her feet. His massage had left her feet throbbing with muscles in an uproar after that well-deserved time out. It left her unsteady. Natsu caught her by the upper hands and held her upright. She could have gladly fallen into his arms and have him hold her to his chest but she had no such luck. She blushed as Natsu held her. She could feel his breath on her face. His hands were steady on her arms. Oh, she didn't want him to let her go. But, of course, when she was steady on her feet again and her feet accepted her weight, he did. He stepped back. The void his heat left behind was like a slap in the face and she had to look away from his intense eyes. They stood there for a while, the silence grew increasingly awkward. Lucy refused to meet his gaze and that didn't make things better.

Eventually Natsu stepped aside and Lucy went to get her bag. She pulled out a sweater and put it on. She was already cold from him not having his hands on her anymore. That absence alone made her feel lonely.

"Do you have time to practice some on Wednesday? Tomorrow is Erza's competition." Lucy said when they left the dance hall. Natsu smiled at her and nodded.

"Sure." He said but his smile didn't look all that genuine. She couldn't figure out why though.

He walked her to the front door of the girl's dorm rooms without a word and although he hesitated before turning away he did so rather quickly. Lucy grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait!" She almost shouted. He turned back to her and her arm fall away. Lucy met his eyes, wanted to melt and shook her herself mentally. "Thanks for helping me out with the dancing. Honestly, it means a lot." She said. She would have reached up and kissed him on the cheek but she was sure that it would break all restrains she had to exercise on herself. She settled on putting her hand on his arms again and that gesture alone made her knees want to buckle. At the same time she couldn't stop herself from squeezing his arm and through the fabric she could feel his muscle contract as his hand balled to a fist. Although she didn't know why he did, she loved the way his muscle felt in her hand.

Eventually Natsu smiled but again it felt forced and as if he was holding back a massive urge to do something and Lucy couldn't even guess what it was.

"You'll get to pay me back on Thursday." He said and smiled genuinely. Lucy nodded and smiled too

"I'll see you at the competition tomorrow." Lucy said and Natsu nodded.

"Erza'd better whop that girl's behind! I'm sure some people will faint at the wobble at her butt." Lucy blinked, wide eyed. Had she heard right? Since when did Natsu make jokes like that. Natsu laughed and relaxed his hand from it's balled up state. Lucy felt it in his arm and let him go.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lucy." He said and moved away, waved and smiled.

"See you." Lucy said back but far too quietly for him to hear it. She reached her hand into the air and waved and saw Natsu grin properly. Her heart dances a salsa.

When he was out of sight Lucy rubbed her hands over her face and groaned. In her mind's eye Natsu was still watching her dance, still close to her, with his hands still on her feet and on her body.

Oh, she had gotten it bad.


	6. Tuesday, Erza's competition

**A/N: Hi Everyone! Since yesterday had the biggest part of our Christmas celebration here at home, I thought I'd update today instead. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Another Authors note at the bottom! See you there! =D**

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><p>Tuesday.<p>

Erza's competition

Thuesday morning was barely different from Monday with the only exception being that Lisanna remembered to take off her clothes before taking her morning shower.

The night before went down quietly with both of them studying and doing that day's assignments. Lucy didn't tell Lisanna about rehearsal and Lisanna didn't ask either. Lucy saw that the girl was bursting with curiosity and at the same time she grinned at what she thought had happened. Although she was probably right about it, Lucy didn't feel like giving her the satisfaction of knowing the truth.

Tuesday morning meant prof. Ichia. That short teacher was probably the strangest of them all. Although he smelled fantastically. He was short, wore a long orange hairstyle and always wore a white suit, even for practice and said "men" about twice every sentence. He was abstract, to say the least but it fit the subject perfectly - his subject was abstract movement. Some of his lessons consisted of them acting as though their hands were creatures of their own and they were transfixed by them. At first Lucy had thought that that kind of thing belonged in a theater class and she had been right. It turned out that she benefitted greatly from knowing those sorts of things. As prof Ichia had said; the best dancer could act though the moves. Apparently the master agreed and so, they learned to move abstractly.

So Lucy spent her morning forgetting everything around her. It was in prof. Ichia's class that she had learned to do exactly that and since they had his class every Tuesday, she had become quite adept at it. It was because of these classes that she could block out parents in dance class on weekends.

That day's lesson was about control. In prof. Strauss' class that would have meant endless slow repetition of difficult steps. In prof. Ichia's class it meant a competition of who could move the slowest across the entirety of the dance hall. At no point was anyone allowed to stop. It someone did (and prof. Ichia always spotted those who did) they had to step forward a step. If someone moved backwards they had to move two steps foward. There was no use to simply walk forward either. At the end of the room, they were simply instructed to do the same thing backwards. Whoever came the shortest way won. Only the most impatient of them ever started walking backwards, Lisanna had been among them a few times, Lucy never was. And so, they spent most of their morning trying not to stop and at the same time move so slowly they practically did. When the last person reached the other wall the race was over and they relaxed on the floor for the rest of the class. That last part was why this class was Lisanna's favourite. Anything for the chance to sleep in the morning.

After class and after they had showered and changed Lucy, Lisanna and Aries walked to Fairy Tail together. Lucy had only the night before remembered that she'd never gotten an answer from Aries about what she remembered about Friday night. Prof. Strauss' assignment had blown it completely from her mind and even if she'd remembered it, Aries had vanished so fast, it probably hadn't been worth trying to look for her.

"He's one of the few who don't have a competition coming up, I didn't want anyone to get to him first, I'm sorry." She said as they walked through the corridor of Beta. Lucy waved her hand.  
>"I would have done the same if I were you." Lucy said. She had after all been "forced" begged to go with someone she hadn't even considered because of competitions. "Who did you ask by the way Lisanna? I bet Lyon has competitions just like Juvia." Lucy asked and turned to Lisanna who nodded and sighed.<p>

"Yeah, no I won't be working with Lyon." She said and sighed again. Aries raised her eyebrows.

"Since when are you interested in Lyon, if you don't mind my asking." She said and Lisanna groaned while Lucy grinned. Lisanna turned to her with a scowl.

"You set my up." Lisanna insisted and Lucy laughed.

"And you didn't set me up with Natsu yesterday?" She said and Lisanna growled again. It was all the confirmation Lucy needed and she nudged Lisanna in the ribs. Lisanna sighed.

"I'm not interested in him… He isn't bad to look at." Lisanna said "And I asked Gray" Lucy and Lisanna laughed. Lisanna mumbled "shut up" under her breath and they entered Fairy Tail. At once, Lisanna headed to the bar to order their food.

"So tell me. What do you remember from Friday night." Lucy asked the moment they sat down next to Juvia and Levy. They both greeted them but Lucy immediately returned her attention to Aries. Her shoulders shrank and she ducked her head. Sweet girl, so shy.

"I'm sorry, I'll do my best to tell you everything I know. It's all a bit fuzzy. I had a bit to drink after all." She said. Aries drinking? That was news to Lucy and by look on Levy and Juvia's faces, it was news to them too. Aries frowned then and looked up at the roof. The frown didn't fit her delicate face at all. She looked quite scary as though she could rip someone apart. Lucy pitied anyone who would come under her scrutiny.

"Okay. I saw you first at around ten. You and Lisanna were dancing on a table in one of the living areas. A little while later Erza came and danced with you too. She was quite unsteady but seemed to be fine. She walked off with Jellal some time later, I didn't seen them for the rest of the evening. Juvia and Gray came and danced too, the four of you danced for a while then Gray and Natsu started yelling at each other. I think Loki was around but I'm not sure. I left when Gray and Natsu fought and later, at two, I saw you dancing with Natsu. Yes, Lucy remembered as much. Aries went on. "A little while later I saw you rushing off. You were really red in your face but smiling I think. Yes, you were smiling. I think Natsu followed a bit behind and he didn't look happy at all. He looked as though he wanted to punch someone but I don't know what or who. I couldn't see where you had gone and if he was even following you. I'm sorry. I think though that his anger wasn't at you since you said that about Natsu beating Loki up if he didn't kiss me. A while after you'd run off though I saw you run upstairs and I think Natsu was close behind you but I'm not sure. It could have been someone else. I didn't really see. Maybe it wasn't even you. I'm sorry. I didn't see you again until you showed up with Loki but your hair had come loose, I remember because I thought it looked pretty" Aries said and looked down with a blush on her cheeks. Lucy nodded. That mystery person she had gone to see must know where she went and she had seen them. If only she had a way of figuring out who it was.

At that moment Jellal appeared at the table. His usual black coat over a white shirt billowed around him. He had apparently just come to a stop in front of them. His blue hair hung in his eyes and his red (and very dynamic) birthmark across his eye nearly glowed in his obvious anxiety. His lips were pressed together and his usually calm eyes were wide and flitting around. This was not good. Lucy stood up. Levy shut her book and practically jumped a few meter in the air. Aries shrank together again and hid behind Lucy. Lisanna and Juvia merely looked up but worry spread over their faces when they saw Jellal's desperation. He was panting and his white shirt clung awkwardly to his chest.

"Jellal, what's wrong?" Lucy asked and he met her eyes. A cold shiver ran through Lucy. Jellal wasn't just desperate, he was also afraid and an afraid Jellal wasn't a good thing.

"Erza." He panted. Was she hurt? Had a rival sought to incapacitate her before the competition? "Has anyone seen her?" She was gone? Since when was Erza not around? And just before such an important competition too. Lucy's heart hitched in her chest. It wasn't like Erza to abandon her life's work of martial arts. Nothing meant more to her than her martial arts. (Other than her friends).

"She's gone? Where did you see her last?" Levy asked and picked up her books without looking at them. Her eyes went out of focus for a second then she waved her hand, beckoning whoever she had seen to them. Moments later Gajeel showed up at her side and put his arm around Levy's shoulder. Levy held up her hand to stop Gajeel from asking what was going on. He was obviously concerned about their worried faces.

"This morning before class. I walked with her as usual and nothing was wrong. She didn't show up for lunch and she's not answering her phone. This isn't like her. Especially on a competition day. Everyone always knows where Erza is on a competition day." Jellal almost shouted. It was obvious that he had been looking for her for a while and when Gajeel asked the obvious question;

"What, she isn't in the rink?" Lucy already knew that the answer was no. Jellal shook his head, still looking around as if Erza would suddenly pop out of thin air. "I even looked in the private ones. Prof, Clive is getting worried. The competition is in two hours." Levy climbed out of her seat and took Gajeel's hand.

"We'll look for her in Alpha. Lucy, take Jellal and look through Beta. Lisanna and Aries take the sports halls, Juvia, find Gray and look through the dorm rooms. Let's regroup here in forty-five minutes." Levy ordered and pulled her massive Gajeel out through the hall. He looked bewildered but didn't object. Neither did anyone else. They'd better get going.

"Come one." Lucy said quietly and started off with a wave of her hand at Jellal. Lunch would have to wait that day.

Lucy and Jellal kept a rather high tempo as they walked through all the different types of competition halls. Beta house held everything from swimming pools to gymnastics equipment to an indoor archery range shooting stretch. Stages for theater, music concerts and dancing, boxing rinks and ice rinks. Beta was the largest building and Lucy really wanted the two of them to split up to cover more ground. But by the look on Jellal's face, he would be practically useless on his own with that amount of worry in him.

However much they looked though, Lucy and Jellal had no luck at all in Beta. Erza was not one to hide under the rows and rows of benches of behind stacks of towels. Then again, Erza wasn't one to not be ready for a competition either and the further they went the more worried Lucy got that Erza in fact was hiding, uncharacteristically as it seemed. She had to keep in mind, for Jellal's sake, that the others were looking for Erza too and that they were highly likely to find her. And to distract him Lucy tried to engage Jellal in small talk. He too had a competition coming up too but for the week he was going to support Erza. Jellal was the school's best archer. He could hit the target with his eyes closed. Only, he had a tendency to shoot at the target to his right when blindfolded. He still hit the jackpot though. Lucy told him that she thought their relationship was amazing but that it was a mystery to most of the school how they managed it at all since both of them were top students and very good athletes. Jellal laughed nervously at this and said that he too sometimes wondered how they managed. He didn't even remember the last time he'd had a free hour to just himself when he wasn't on the toilet or in the shower and even those times weren't always his own anymore. That was a detail Lucy probably didn't need to know and she forcedly blocked the thought of what Erza had told them on Sunday about Jellal, from even entering her mind. Damn her mind for going down the dirty street again.

With a chill that went through Lucy, she and Jellal arrived at the last competition hall and even this one was quick to look through. No one hid behind the spectator seats for the tennis ball court and there was little else to look or to hide. With a gulp Lucy stopped and turned to Jellal. He was pale again and staring at the wall. His hand clenched and unclenched with every breath he took. Lucy swallowed hard, she didn't like this either.

"Let's head back. Maybe they've had better luck." Lucy said and Jellal immediately turned and hurried off, his jaw clenched and a deep frown on his forehead. The whole way back to Fairy Tail, Lucy had to run to keep up with him.

Lucy told herself that the others had had more luck than they. Surely they had found Erza and brought her to her senses, they had to! Erza had to be brought to her senses! She was a sensible person!

But when they came through the double doors of Fairy Tail and saw Levy, Gajeel, Juvia, Gray, Lisanna and Aries all with the same hopeful and then disappointed faces she knew that they'd had the same results as she and Jellal. What was worse, in 15 mins Erza was expected to at the very least present herself to the judges. If she wasn't there in 30, she would be disqualified giving Kagura Makisachi the winning title. Whatever reason Erza had for not showing up, it'd better be a good one.

The doors to Fairy Tail flung open with a loud bang and everyone turned to see who it was. Oh, oh, Lucy thought. Jellal wasn't kidding when he said prof. Clive was getting worried. The Master martial artist was probably the most cool-headed teacher of them all. Even when he had one of his less happy days he always smiled and was kind, no matter what Natsu might have challenged him to.

Now his normally combed back orange hair hung in greasy strings around his face and he looked as if he hadn't slept or showered in days. His eyes were heavy and darkly ringed and his stubble was growing into an actual beard. His eyes swept the room, landed on Jellal and hurried over. His steps looked stiffer than what Lucy remembered as if he had a pain in his leg and a bad bruise on his arm. Lucy took a step back as the large man came to stand in front of Jellal next to her, his cloak billowed around him at his sudden standstill. His eyes were wide with worry and it didn't fit him at all.

"Did you find her?" He asked, well, nearly shouted but Lucy didn't blame him. She would have shouted in his place too. Jellal shook his head, his blue hair whipped around his face and landed in his eyes a couple of times. Prof. Clive sighed loudly and looked around desperately, very similarly to Jellal.

"We searched all the buildings and dorm rooms. She has to be somewhere outside." Levy said and stepped forward. Lucy saw her hands tighten on Gajeel's. Prof. Clive looked at her for a moment then nodded.

"What about the outside tracks?" He asked and raised his eyebrows at them.

"I checked there before I came here." Jellal said. Apparently she wasn't there either. Prof Clive sighed loudly and drew his hands through his hair. The few strands that moved away from around his face only fell back as soon as he let go of his head.

"Let's search the grounds. All of you. Don't go further than ten minutes. If you don't find her by then it's already too late." Prof. Clive said after a few moments. They all nodded and headed out of Fairy Tail again. Once outside they all headed off into different directions. They needed to cover as much ground as possible. Lucy saw Gray springing off around the building and she took his lead and ran off to. She headed for Alfa. She hoped to reach the basketball court behind it before her ten minutes were up.

The people she passed looked her strangely. Although it was a sports' school, people rarely ran on campus. Only if someone was late for class and as today was Tuesday, that wasn't the case. She wanted to shout at them to look out for Erza or to ask them if they had seen her. But if she did she also would have to explain what was going on and she didn't have time for that.

The basketball court was empty except for two black haired people who stood under the bleachers, too close to be a normal conversation. If she hadn't been so worried about Erza, Lucy would have laughed and wondered if they really thought that they were invisible there. As it was she simply turned around and ran back to Beta, her heart thumping with worry in her chest.

Crowds were gathering in the courtyard. They were all filing to Beta to see Erza's big fight. Lucy had to fight her way through and she probably elbowed one or two of them hard in the ribs to make them move out of the way. There were angry outbursts behind her as she pushed through the crowd. Lucy ignored them, there wouldn't be a competition if Erza didn't show up.

When Lucy arrived in Fairy Tail a strange scene greeter her. Or rather, the noise of Natsu's furious yell reached her just outside in the big corridor.

"I'm gonna kill him! I'm gonna punch the gut's out of the bastard!" Why he wasn't running out of Fairy Tail to catch whoever had gotten on his bad side became clear when Lucy pushed through the small crowd that had ringed Natsu in. Erza. She held Natsu by the collar and he was blindly trying to run out. He didn't even care that Erza was holding him. Any sensible person would go for whatever was holding them back. Then again, since when was Natsu a sensible person. Erza just stood there and looked nearly emotionless at Natsu. Lucy wasn't sure what to read behind those brown eyes of hers and she hesitated a moment before she stepped forward.

"Erza!" Lucy said. "Where have you been? We've looked all over for you!" Erza looked at her and that small tinge of whatever it had been vanished. She was already dressed in her fighting outfit; red pants and a white top, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her gaze lingered, unreadable on Lucy for a moment.

"Sting's back." Erza said in a leveled tone and Lucy immediately understood. She was still upset though and this wasn't the time to consider Natsu's aggressiveness.

"Who cares! You've got to get to the judges!" She checked the clock on the wall. "You've got five minutes until you forfeit the game. Prof. Clive is going to kill you!" She said and stepped forward to take Natsu by the arm. Erza nodded and let go of his collar. He immediately lurched forward and Lucy had to dig in her heels to keep him from escaping. Erza hesitated.

"Go. I'll handle it." Lucy said. Erza nodded and ran off. Moments later Gray came through the double doors and the crowd. They seemed to act as a protective barrier in case Lucy lost her grip on Natsu.

A whirlwind of mixed feelings rushed through Lucy as Gray walked up to the still thrashing Natsu. If Sting really was back and Natsu knew where he was things could get ugly. At the same time Lucy was thrilled that Sting was back. He had been the first to greet her when she first came to Fiore Academy of Sports and he had been the one to show her Campus. He wasn't around much though. He had gotten an internship with a prestigious gymnastics school. He was probably also one of the only people Natsu actually and full-heartedly hated. Why? If only Lucy knew. No one had told her and if the subject ever came up, everyone went quiet glanced at Lisanna or Natsu, whoever was around, and never said a word. Lucy had come to accept it as a way of Fiore Academy but it in no way made her curiosity die down. Not even Sting had told her when she asked, he had only laughed it off, that was when she knew it'd been bad.

"Erza, let go of me. I promise I won't hurt him." Natsu whined but strained against her grip. Lucy had to laugh. Natsu's hate for Sting ran so deeply that he hadn't even notice Lucy or the fact that she was the one holding him now. Gray shook his head and stepped up in front of Natsu,

"Idiot." He said, drew his hand back and punched Natsu straight in the face. It was a clean hit and it threw Natsu's entire body back onto Lucy. Her knees nearly buckled under his weight. He was much heavier than he looked. A few moments later though Natsu shook his head and moved onto his feet again, he turned to her. At least he wasn't trying to run off and kill Sting anymore. A small cut brushed his cheek and a bit of blood trickled over his skin. He didn't seem to feel it though and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Lucy?" He said and frowned a bit.

"Yea, it's her, you moron. You're too dumb to notice that you nearly got Erza disqualified!" Gray yelled. Natsu growled and turned to him.

"I knew what was going on." He said in a dark voice and looked away.

"Oh yea? Then why did you do it?" Gray demanded, the anger showed on his face. A deep frown covered his forehead and his hands were balled into fists. Natsu didn't answer but mumbled something inaudible that sounded a suspicious lot like ab insulting. Lucy met Gray's eyes.

"Sting's back." She said and glanced at Natsu. His entire body went rigid at the mention of the name. He growled and mumbled again. Probably more unsults. Gray rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh.

"Damn it, Natsu. Get over it already!" He shouted. Natsu didn't flinch at the anger in Gray's face. "It was four fucking years ago!"

"I am over it!" Natsu shouted back, fists at his side. That wasn't good. When Natsu's hands were in fists like that, knuckles white and all, someone was going to get punched, hard.

"You don't fucking act like it!" Gray shouted, his hands too were in fists. The protective crowd must have noticed too and drew back to a safe distance and Lucy moved with them.

"It's not my fault he keeps gloating about it!" Natsu shouted and Lucy was his biceps twitch in preparation to strike.

"Who cares! What's it to you!" Gray shouted and that was when Natsu's restrain fell away. He launched himself forward, his arm drawing back. An obvious attack, even to Lucy. Apparently, when Natsu was angry enough, he didn't really care.

"It pisses me off!" He roared and when Gray was about to block and retaliate Natsu was gone from his previous path and suddenly behind Gray. He didn't even have time to turn around before Natsu had landed two hits on him. Gray seemed to lose his balance but when Natsu moved to take advantage of it, Gray twisted in mid-air and caught Natsu straight in the jaw. Sure, that had been bad blocking on Natsu's part but still well done. Just as he'd landed the strike, a voice shouted from the double door

"Go Gray! You can take him!" Of course it was Juvia and she, Levy and Gajeel came around to stand besides Lucy who immediately told them what had happened and that Erza had gone to the judges.

"We figured she'd be back when they didn't announce her forfeit five minutes ago. But why are these two fighting." Levy said and Lucy sighed.

"Sting's back. Natsu found him I think." Levy and Juvia shared an "Oh." Which bothered Lucy probably more than it should. Why did they know what was going on when they'd been at Fiore Academy the same length as she?

"I should probably try and stop them." Lucy said with a frown after a while of silence where only the thuds of Natsu and Gray's fight and the shuffling of the crowd outside of Fairy Tail could be heard. Levy put her hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"You should probably wait until they're done. Natsu often takes his anger out on Gray. It keeps him from hurting people." She said. Lucy growled.

"He's hurting Gray." She said, wrenched her arm out of Levy's grasp and stomped forward. She half expected someone else to hold her back again but no one did. She placed herself firmly in front of the two who were strangely stationary and planted her fists on her hips.

"If you two don't stop fighting right now I'm going to punch you to the moon!" Lucy yelled. No reaction. "Fine." She grumbled and pulled up the arms of her sleeve. "You have been warned." She stepped forward, her hands in fists. Behind her she heard Levy gasp but Lucy ignored her. "Lucy Kick!" She bellowed, brought up her leg and caught Natsu in the stomach. She twisted and kicked Gray in the stomach too. It was so quick they both fell onto each other in a heap. Lucy crossed her arms under her chest and glared at them until they came to and got to their feet. When they did, both of them clutched their stomachs and looked carefully up at Lucy. Both flinched when they met her eyes and her scrutiny and Lucy didn't let up her glare when they looked at their feet.

"We." Lucy growled "Are going to watch Erza fight now. And you two." She pointed at Natsu and Gray. "Are going to behave!" She nearly shouted the last part and glared at them until both had nodded and said

"Yes Lucy." She smiled then as if she hadn't just kicked them in the gut. "Let's go then!" She said and everyone followed her out of Fairy Tail, down the hall to the left and into the competition hall.

It was already packed by the time they arrived and Lucy, Levy and Gajeel could only just found a spot where the three of them could fit. Natsu, Gray and Juvia went off to find a different place to sit and they were gone in the crowd without as much as a glance at her. Lucy understood why they probably didn't want to talk to her at that moment and she didn't regret kicking them, they deserved it after all. But she wished they hadn't been so quick to ignore her.

Lucy shrugged, this was Erza's time to shine and it was their job as friends to watch. Lucy glanced back over her shoulder though and saw a brush of pink hair disappear between the heads of people. Her heart spun, were those Natsu's eyes she had caught?

Neither Erza nor Kagura were out on "stage" when Lucy really turned her attention that way. Someone glad in simple sports-gear was sweeping the white mats that made up the fighting ground and Prof. Clive was talking to the referee in all black who was shaking his head at something. Another man, Lucy guessed he was Kagura's trainer stood at the entrance to the challengers' changing room with his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes trained on Prof. Clive and the referee.

Since this was a freestyle fight the mats had no lines that indicated the boundaries of the rink. The fighters could simply go wherever they want. Sure the mats didn't cover the entire hall but even if they stepped outside the mats, the match would go on.  
>To the left and right at the short ends of the hall were two openings that lead to the fighters' changing rooms. On both long sides of the hall crowds were packed together and the chatter was ringing in Lucy's ears. A large clock hanging from the ceiling told them what it was 20 more minutes before the fight would actually start.<p>

Lucy's thoughts suddenly drifted to Sting. The two of them were good friends but the elation at his return had subsided and she found herself wondering why he hadn't told her that he was back. Why hadn't he told her that he was coming back? He had her number, he could have called or texted, hell, even knocked on her door. Why had he kept his return a secret? The reason she cared of course was because Sting had promised to always call once he knew when he would be back to visit again. She didn't need Sting to start acting the way people always said he did. And those people were mainly the ones she was friends with at the Academy. Very few of those who were friends with NAtsu were friends with Sting too. You usually had to choose sides. Either you were friends with Natsu or with Sting, there wasn't an in between, except for Lucy and it was quite possible that Natsu simply didn't know about her involvement with him. Early on in their first year Levy had told Lucy that if she wanted to be friends with Natsu she probably should be careful and Lisanna had told her to dump him altogether. She said he was a scumbag who wouldn't stop until he'd gotten what he wanted, no matter what he ripped apart and destroyed.

Juvia and Erza had given her similar advice and although it was clear they all harboured no love for Sting, they didn't hate him on the same level as Lisanna did. From that moment on, whenever Sting was in town and wanted to hang out, they only ever met in private and out of sight. Somewhere they wouldn't suddenly run into someone who would recognize them. A sudden gong made Lucy jump and snap out her thoughts. Were they fighting already? Had she wasted the introductions on thoughts on Sting? She looked around. Levy smiled and pointed at the floor below.

"They're just about to start." She said. Lucy looked down. Erza stood in the middle of the floor, recognizable by her flaming red hair and red pants. In her hands she held a wooden sword, at her hip she had a second. Lucy knew that the swords were weighted down so they would feel like real swords in their hands. Sword fights in competitions weren't actually allowed until you were a master. Erza only had one tiny bit further to go to become one. Then she would challenge prof. Clive himself and if she could fight an honest match against him she would be a full fledged master. She only had to challenge and fight him, really, but she never did. She was so close still.

The other person on the floor was a busty girl with long straight dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Her fringe hung to her eyes. She wore a fitted white jacket dress and black pants or leggings. A belt held the whole thing to her waist. Lucy thought it looked a bit restrictive but the girl, who obviously was Kagura, must think otherwise and know how best to fight. She had her wooden sword at her hip. One hand on it as if ready to draw it out of its sheath, the other held that invisible sheath in place. Lucy had seen a lot of Erza's fights but this form, from what she could remember, had never been among them.

The referee walked up to the two women and spoke, probably that he wanted to see a clean fight, what was and wasn't allowed and what signified a win. From the hand gestures the man did, Lucy guessed that they weren't allowed to hit private areas but the first to land a 'critical strike' (Lucy named it so herself) on the opponent's middle, throat or upper thigh would win. The two girls nodded at the same time but didn't take their eyes off each other.

The referee nodded too, moved away and held up his arm. Another loud gong sounded the start of the match.

Both Erza and Kagura moved as soon as she gong sounded. It was so fast that Lucy almost missed it. Within seconds the clang of the two swords hitting each other rang through the surprisingly quiet hall. Erza and Kagura moved around each other in circles. Erza, with her sword raised in front of her, Kagura with hers at her hip again. It was an interesting tactic since, when she gripped her sword with her right hand at her left hip she effectively covered and protected her middle with her arm. Erza on the other hand had her entire sword to cover her middle and that protected her even more. Lucy had just formed the thought that Erza's stance was far better since Kagura's arm had to move all the way from her hip to wherever the strike was coming from. When Erza stepped forward to strike Kagura's sword was there in an instant and they clanged together. Kagura was fast.

Erza seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time and changed her stance. Instead of her left foot forward hips facing forward and her sword in front of her she turned to the side and moved her hands apart. Effectively turning her sword into a lance. The crowd erupted into sudden cheers at Erza's technique change but Erza on the floor wasn't phased. Within seconds she'd struck five times, her attacks seemed definitely harder to evade and block since they were only a point and Kagura shuffled her feet side to side. This was important because Kagura didn't seemed to be as fast on her feet as she was with her arm. Lucy could swear that she was Erza grin.

Time flew by and although it only felt like a few minutes to Lucy, 20 minutes past and only then did Lucy realize that time had been some sort of warm-up - a time to estimate what the other person's strategy and, most importantly, way of fighting, was. Judging by the grin that spread out over Erza's face, it also seemed that she had just figured something out about Kagura and she went for it. Had Lucy been in Kagura's shoes she would have been lucky to have survive this long but what Erza did at that moment changed the pace completely.

She thrust strike after strike after strike at Kagura and forced her to move out of her comfortable still stance. Kagura became wobbly and less composed and Erza took advantage of this too. She changed her stance, alternated between two handed grips on the sword, one handed, swinging it like an ax, thrusting it like a spear. She landed a few hits on Kagura but none of them could count as critical. Lucy hoped that if Erza hit enough strikes that were non-critical, they would eventually count as critical. Because the way it was going, it seemed otherwise they could go on for ever.

The more Erza attacked, the more the frown on Kagura's face grew and she looked increasingly annoyed. Erza's striked made Kagura bruise so bad Lucy could see it from the audience but the girl rarely even winced. She was watching Erza though and that was what unnerved Lucy the most. Her eyes were cold as steel and she rarely had an emotion on her face. Even that frown on her forehead was devoid of emotion, it was simply a frown. But she was watching Erza and the more Erza showed her of how she fought, the more she learned and could come up with a strategy to retaliate. Even though Lucy knew that Erza had a lot of different techniques to choose from; she hadn't even taken out her second sword, she was showing Kagura something very important that Erza didn't know how Kagura fought and the more Erza attacked, the more Kagura would be sure of that. Kagura probably didn't know though was that Erza had a lot more up her sleeve, she hadn't even taken out her second sword for example. That would have to wait though.

At that moment, Kagura drew her sword and charged three quick thrusts at Erza who had to jump back to avoid being struck. An angry red mark immediately bloomed on Erza's upper arm. Kagura must have struck harder than Erza had so far. Erza walked around Kagura, her sword in two hands in front of her again. Lucy could see that Era was going to get down to business any moment. The settling of Kagura's shoulders told Lucy that she was planning on doing the same.

Both women pulled their swords in an ark to their right. Had they not done in simultaneously the other would have had a perfect opening. It seemed to be a rather formal greeting. They tipped their swords to the ground, tapped it, drew it up straight in front of them, their swords points nearly brushed each others' noses and brought them together so their tips met. Lucy was momentarily stunned. Had the last half hour merely been a formality? Martial arts, it wasn't something that Lucy really understood.

As soon as the two girl's sword tips met they sprang apart and together again within an instant. Yes, the last half hour had been a formality and this was when the real fighting began. Their thrusts and moves were no longer silent. Almost every move was followed by a loud shout that ended either with a clang of swords or the cheer from the crowd because of a non-critical hit.

Lucy could only just see Erza change stances every now and then, she moved so fluently through her techniques that she could go through three of them in just one strike. Kagura though with only her own technique had no problem at all keeping up with her and neither of them seemed to be even breaking a sweat. In comparison though, Erza seemed to be the one to attack the most. Sometimes Kagura would just stand there and let Erza come to her. It was as if she was trying to wear Erza out. Lucy grinned, she had seen people try that tactic before and all of them had failed miserably. Another ten minutes passed like this. Then the two girls sprang apart and held up their swords in front of of them again. It looked as if Kagura yelled something at Erza but there was no way Lucy could have heard it over the crowd. Erza said something back and Kagura smirked and attacked. Erza was quick to defend but the tides had obviously turned. It was Erza's turn to stand putt and to take evasive steps back. Lucy leaned forward, cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted

"Go Erza Go Erza Go!" Seconds later Levy and Gajeel leaned forward and joined her.

"Go Erza Go Erza Go!"

It could have been a coincidence but when they shouted Erza's resolve seemed to harden and Kagura wasn't able to push her as she wanted. Erza was fighting back agian. People around them, classmates and friends took up their chant. A few people away, Cana waved at Lucy, a happy grin on her face, next to her sat Bacchus and both of them shouted the chant too.

"Go Erza Go Erza Go!" The more poeple that joined in, the more confident Erza seemed to become. Her thrusts became more forceful and the bruises they left must have been even more painful. Kagura was fully in the game though. She didn't miss a step and didn't misstep either. Her movements were as fluid as water and as strong and sure as a boulder. Erza didn't back down and fought on even harder with every time the chant filled the air and nearly drowned out all other cheers.

"Go Erza Go Erza Go!"

"Go Erza Go Erza Go!"

The two girls spoke again but this time they didn't bother to stop and speak clearly. Whenever either face was turned in Lucy's direction she tried to make out what those moving lips were saying. Erza seemed to get increasingly angrier and Kagura's face was devoid of any emotion at all still. Both seemed to become at least a little breathless now. Erza shouted something followed by five aggressive attacks. Kagura blocked all but one, it struck her across the forearms and nearly made her drop her sword. A strike like that with a real sword would have cut off her arms. Lucy half expected the judge to call it a critical strike but when Kagura shouted back and threw three attacks equally aggressively back it seemed not to deem as such. Kagura didn't land any of her strikes though and Lucy could see red bloom on her forearms. That had got to hurt and Lucy wasn't even sure if it was a bruise or actual blood.

Erza shouted and Kagura answered and when Erza brought out her second sword, the crowd cheered so loud it ringed in Lucy's ears. Erza thrust the sword dramatically to her side leaving her completely unblocked. Kagura saw it and sought to use the opening.

"Go Erza Go Erza Go!" Erza, even in the middle of the fight knew how to cater to the audience and Kagura didn't know what she was getting herself into.

Kagura sprang forward, she sword arm brought the sword from her hip to attack a move she seemed to enjoy. Erza waited, a steady frown on her forehead, the swords steady in her hands. Erza, after an hour of fighting showed no signs of the slightest exhaustion. She was an athlete in the purest form.

The collision of Kagura's next thrust rang through the hall and had the crowd momentarily stunned into silence. The next few moves were even more ferocious and the shouts Kagura and Erza gave were driven by anger too. It was no longer a friendly fight; something someone said had changed their personal rules. It was a fight between two adversaries who had waited lifetimes to fight it out. The strikes both girls threw were no longer just premeditated but impulsive and fueled with anger. Despite the anger though, or maybe because of it, the strikes were also cleaner than before.

It was about time the fight ended. If they didn't have a winner soon they might just throw away their swords and have it out with their fists. Erza used her feet to kick Kagura and it always resulted in a scowl and another attack. Lucy could see though that Erza was getting fed up with the fight. She might love it full heartedly but by the look on her face, it seemed to be getting on her nerves.

Kagura spoke something and although Lucy couldn't see Erza's face she could tell that those words in particular pissed Erza off.

"Oh, oh." Levy suddenly said next to Lucy and she jumped. She'd practically forgotten that Levy was there. But she too had seen Erza's shoulders twitch, the grip on the swords tighten and that change in her stance and that change was a dangerous one. A hush fell over the crowd and for the first time Lucy could hear Erza's shout.

"Never underestimate an opponent." She said and pointed one of her swords at Kagura. Kagura sneared.

"I'm simply being realistic. Wouldn't want to embarrass dear Jellal." That was it, the tip of the iceberg of whatever it was they had argued about before. Erza took a deep breath, stepped half a step to the side so her stance was wide and her swords followed. She was wide open again. Although she leaned forward, nothing protected her chest from an attack and even her legs were widely exposed, it was as if Erza was offering herself up.

Before Kagura could smirk and use the supposed opening however, Erza had sprung into action. She had seemed winded before but now she was fresh out of a shower. Her wide arches were strong and fast as the eye could see. Erza cared nothing for defence now, it was her strongest attacking point. By the hurried steps Kagura took backwards she seemed surprised at the sudden onslaught of attacks and although Erza wasted no energy on protecting herself, her attacks came so quick and so ferocious that Kagura didn't seem to have time to find and use an opening.

Kagura smiled then and through the clanks of sword on sword Lucy heard her say

"Afraid I'm right?" She stepped forward with a few attacks. Erza simply sidestepped and didn't answer. Kagura frowned as Erza increased her speed even further. How was that even possible? An angry grimace was visible on Erza's face. Suddenly Lucy stood on her feet, hands cupped to her mouth again.

"You can do it Erza! I believe in you!" She yelled. A few deadly silent moments (but for their fight) later Levy stood too and shouted.

"You can do it! Show us what you're made of!" From somewhere on the other side of the crowd someone else stood and shouted

"I want a rematch!" It was Natsu and as Lucy smiled, Erza on the floor did too. Slowly most of the crowd took up a chant again.

"Erza! Erza! Erza!" Erza grinned and Lucy thought she could hear her yell.

"I don't need to be stronger on my own! They will always make me fight harder!" And she attacked with such ferocity that Kagura only stepped backwards. A thrust to her face, another to the leg, turn, to the neck, another to the hip. Kagura managed to block each one, but only just.

Jab to the feet, slice on the upper arm, Kagura flinched, a jab to the calf and Kagura stepped back. Erza followed forward, struck the shoulder, blocked, jack to the stomach.

"Erza! Erza! Erza!"

A thrust to the armpit, evaded, a swing to the shoulder, kick her back, A swing to her upper thigh, another jab to the armpit. Kagura's sword was just about to move to Erza's neck. Where was Erza's other sword? She needed to block. Kagura moved closer but Erza made no attempt to block or move away. Her eyes were fixed on Kagura, Lucy wanted to shout at her to get away! She would lose if she didn't, her hands reached for her mouth to shout.

"Erza! Erza! Erza!" Filled the room.

Then Erza let go of her sword that had just thrust to the armpit, and took a hold of Kagura's wrist. Erza's arms wasn't long enough to hold off the sword, what was she doing and where was her other sword?

Erza caught her first sword with her other hand and moved it to meet Kagura's hip. She couldn't reach the critical area of her middle, it wasn't enough and if they didn't separate soon, the judge would do it for them.

"Erza! Erza! Erza!" Screamed the crowd.

"Where is your other sword!?" Lucy yelled and put her hands to her head when Kagura's sword tilted and made a dangerously quick way to Erza's neck.

Then Erza twisted, pushed Kagura's hand that held the sword away from her, stepped back with her right leg and gripped her own sword with both hands. Her hands were wide apart, the sword was a lance again. Kagura's eyes widened and moved back. Erza thrust her lance forward, moving it in a straight line over Kagura's stomach, chest to stop at her neck.

The fight was over.

Erza had won.

* * *

><p>Lucy and Levy pushed their way through the crowd that headed out the hall, full of excitement and chatter. On the floor Erza stood talking to prof. Clive who had been the first to step up incase the two girls had a plan to continue the fight once the whistle had blown. It was quite a struggle to get any headway. The crowd heeded no mind to Lucy and Levy's pursuit to get to their friend, they were far too excited about the match they had just seen. Not even Gajeel's large form made a difference and he was practically dragged away by the crowd.<p>

Levy and Lucy elbowed themselves forward, earning quite a few angry scowls and eventually the crowd parted for them.

When they finally got through, prof. Clive was gesticulating wildly and Erza looked generally pissed off. Natsu was there too, his arms crossed over his chest, his jaw tightly locked and a angry wrinkle on his forehead. The closer Lucy came the more she realized that it was Natsu prof. Clive was shouting at and not Erza. Erza in fact might be adding her anger to prof. Clive's lecture.

Lucy slowed down when she realized it and held out an arm to stop Levy too, she hoped that maybe they would be done soon and they wouldn't have to hear Natsu being told off. Natsu's eyes betrayed them though. Prof Clive turned to them when he saw that Natsu's eyes were out of focus and waved them over. He was, without a doubt, one of the tallest people Lucy had ever seen and although he was generally one of the kindest people around, his height was imposing.

"You two, thanks for helping us look before." He said with a genuine smile. Levy grinned back and Lucy tried to return the smile full heartedly as well but somehow didn't manage. She looked at Natsu and started when he met her eyes immediately. There was no way she could discern what was going on in his mind. Although he still looked angry, she knew his anger wasn't directed at her. And when he looked away and down at his feet, his legs tensed up again. Lucy's heart fell. She loved looking into his eyes, no matter what he was thinking.

Lucy turned to Erza then. The wooden swords had been taken away and her hands looked emptier than normal without them. She too had a stern look on her face but it was mostly directed at something no one could see. For all Lucy knew, Erza could already be going through her fight step by step in her mind to see what she could have done better.

"Hey Erza." Lucy said in an undertone and Erza met her eyes. "What were and Kagura arguing about?" Erza's scowl made Lucy step pack. Her eyes had gone out of focus again and when Lucy turned to look she saw Jellal walking toward them. It seemed that he had caught her gaze and was rightfully scared. Prof. Clive turned and waved Jellal over. Natsu watcher Erza, untying his arms in case he needed to restrain her. Erza looked as though she might need a restraint.

Hesitantly Jellal came towards them, his eyes were always locked with Erza's and Lucy simply wanted to move out of the way, even if she wasn't even in the way. That murderous look that Erza had in her eyes made Lucy feel as if, if she stood on the other side of the room, she would still be in the way.

"A certain someone has some history with Kagura and thought it unimportant to tell me." Erza said in an undertone that was so sharp it could have cut glass. Jellal, who was only just within earshot stopped and took a step back.

"I… I didn't think she would make a big deal out of it. It was four years ago." He hesitated and stepped back more. Erza moved towards him, her glare didn't waver or soften. "I was the one who broke it off, sure, but I don't know what she told me, she tends to exaggerate..." Erza stepped closer and Jellal looked as though he was fighting the impulse to run away. Lucy was fighting the impulse to run away and she wasn't the only she wasn't under Erza's scrutiny.

Erza turned to prof. Clive and he shrugged back a step at her glare.

"I'm going to explain to my boyfriends what preparation for a competition means. I hope you don't mind my leaving." Prof Clive immediately put his hands up defensively at shook his head.

"By all means." He said. Not that he would have been able to stop her if he'd said no. Lucy shuddered, she didn't want to know what would have happened had prof. Clive said no. Even prof. Clive, master Martial Artist had respect for Erza's strength. Come to think of it, a memory of prof Clive saying that if it was allowed he would challenge Erza to a fight, came to Lucy's mind. She wondered for a moment if it had actually been true. In that memory prof. Clive had said that if they'd been able to fight, Erza would have kicked his ass a long time ago.

The motion of Erza grabbing Jellal by the arm brought Lucy out of her thoughts and she looked up.

"What happened during the fight?" Levy asked before Erza could drag Jellal off and teach him a lesson. Goodness, Lucy only hoped it wouldn't hurt him in anyway, the poor guy was practically shaking. Erza didn't answer but glared at Jellal.

"It seems that Jellal used to have a thing with Kagura and she's not very happy it ended." Prof. Clive said. Levy took a deep breath.

"Four years ago." She mumbled and cast Natsu a glance. It was one of those glances Natsu always received when Sting was mentioned. Natsu looked away from both her and Lucy and crossed his arms again, his arms fisted in the crook of his arm and his jaw clenched a new. His expression clearly said 'Shut up'. Erza pulled Jellal away then. It seemed that they had been communicating silently and Jellal didn't look as afraid anymore. He held Erza's hand tightly and although she took the lead he didn't resist.

"Natsu." Prof. Clive said when Erza and Jellal were out of the hall along with most of the audience. "For your stunt today I would ground you if you were my son. Since you're not, I'm simply going to give you an extra assignment that you will do on Thursday in class." Natsu opened his mouth to object with a quick glance at Lucy but prof. Clive held up his hand and cut him off. "Find someone and give them a full crash course in MMA." Natsu closed his mouth with a snap and gulped, his arms came undone and a soft blush crept onto his cheeks. Lucy raised her eyebrows. She wanted to ask why he was blushing and what a crash course was.

"A crash course…" Natsu said, his eyes flickered to meet Lucy's momentarily. Prof Clive nodded and grinned.

"A full on Crash course." He said. Natsu nodded and gulped again, then turned to Lucy.

"See you at 2 in training hall C then?" He said and grinned, his face grew bright red. Lucy gulped and felt a blush creep onto her own cheeks.

"Um… sure… I guess." Prof Clive looked momentarily surprised with raised eyebrows and his head slightly tilted back. Then he threw his head back entirely and barked out a loud laugh.

"Good job Natsu! You've learned my lesson already!" He laughed again and walked away. Natsu scowled.

"What lesson?" He asked but prof. Clive only waved and laughed. He didn't even turn around. Lucy stood next to Natsu looking after prof. Clive as he disappeared out through the door. She could feel the heat emanating from Natsu but didn't want to move away. The last of prof. Clives cloak disappeared around the corner and Natsu took a step forward.

"Hey! What lesson?" He yelled but didn't get an answer this time either. He turned to Lucy but only momentarily met her eyes; his face was still bright red. Lucy blushed too and looked at her shoes, wiggling her toes to distract herself; it didn't work, Natsu looked absolutely delicious with his cheeks a tinge of red. Why was he blushing at their upcoming lesson and what on earth did that crash course mean? It sounded pretty straight forward like a walkthrough of the basics. There seemed nothing wrong with that. Actually, that seemed to be the exact thing she should learn if she did MMA for the first time.

She turned away from Natsu and faced Levy who had a small smile on her lips. Lucy sighed slightly. She was not in the mood to know what that knowing smile was about.

"I'm going for a walk." Lucy said and turned away from both Natsu and Levy and walked in a quick pace out of Beta.

Although most of Lucy's time was spent either rehearsing or reading, on occasion she also took walks around the larger campus. This meant around all five buildings as well as the outdoor basketball-, volleyball-, and football courts that surrounded the 'smaller' campus. It was a walk that lasted for just over an hour and had helped Lucy clear her mind countless times in the past.

There wasn't really anything in particular that she was confused about or needed to think about but her mind wandered and thinking was generally good. She liked Natsu, no question about it but she was probably not going to do anything about it this week or month either. Levy had finally gotten with Gajeel, Lisanna had the hots for Lyon, Erza was probably having a steaming hot fight with Jellal and Juvia had her friends with benefits arrangement with Gray. And Sting was back after 6 months away.

That was why she had gone for a walk.

He hadn't called or sought her out, maybe he didn't even want to see her. Lucy felt betrayed by Sting's sudden decision not to be her friend anymore. Even if that wasn't the case. She was sure she hadn't done anything to upset him though. Hell, she hadn't spoken to him in nearly as long as he'd been gone but that had never been a problem before! That was how they did it usually! They rarely spoke when he was away and he would contact her as soon as he was back in Magnolia. Maybe something had gotten in the way. Lucy reasoned. Maybe he was only there for a very short time and didn't want to take Lucy out of whatever it was she was doing. But if he'd only planned on staying in Magnolia for a day or two he wouldn't come walking around the Academy. He should know that his presence there was never really a good thing.

Well, Lucy thought, if he was going to be like that when he came, she might as well play the same game. She was busy for the rest of the week anyway, if he wanted to see her he would have to work a little for her time. Lucy crossed her arms under her chest and grinned. She wanted to at least hear a good excuse to why he hadn't contacted her yet.

Determination coursed through her as she walked home. Lisanna wasn't there when Lucy stepped into their dorm and Lucy set about cooking them some dinner.

Lucy always took Tuesdays off. Tuesdays were only half-days since most competitions were scheduled on that day for some reason. It was simply easier to have every Tuesday off than to make an exception every time there was a competition (nearly every other week). Lisanna did what Lucy did on Sundays (if she didn't take over Lisanna's classes in which case it was Saturdays) which was to train intensely for a ridiculous amount of time. Lisanna wouldn't be home until late and Lucy knew how nice it was to come home after such a day and simply be able to eat and go to bed straight after. And since Lisanna wasn't going to be around for the rest of the day, Lucy took the opportunity to read some in peace and quiet.

With a cup of tea in her hands, a good book in her lap and a warm blanket wrapped around her shoulders she spent stationary hours simply reading page after page of her favorite story. At ten Lisanna still hadn't come home but Lucy got herself ready for bed. Just as she turned off the light of her bedside table the screen of her phone lit up. She reached out for it. One new message. From: Sting Received: 22.17 Dinner on Friday? I got a promotion!

Her heart made a sudden and unexpected summersault and before she could stop herself or even think about it or remember her earlier resolution she replied.

To: Sting Sent: 22.18 Sure =)

So much for playing the same game.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi again! I wanted to take the time and answer a few of your reviews. First off, thank you for all the kind words, really, it means a lot. I'm so happy that you like my story. Second, sorry, I won't be able to give you Natsu's point of view in this story, there would be massive spoilers if I did. I'm sure you'll understand on Sunday with the next chapter =). Third, to the person who told me about the Jewls, I didn't know that actually, thanks for telling me. Forth, all the spaces somehow disappeared, problem fixed. Thanks for letting me know!**

**Lastly, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy holiday, whichever it is you celebrate, if you don't celebrate anything around this time of year, have a generally great day! See you all Sunday! =D**


	7. Wednesday, A History lesson

**A/N: Hi everyone! This was probably my favorite chapter to write and its the reason why I haven't written anything from Natsu's point of view although I would have loved to, oh so much fun that would have been, especially in this chapter. I'm thinking about what I can do to give Natsu a bit of the spotlight. =) **

**Anyway, on with the story! =D **

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><p>Wednesday<p>

A history lesson.

Lucy cursed when she woke up and reached for her phone. Yes, she had indeed agreed to join Sting for dinner although she was angry with him for not telling her that he was home. Why was this a big deal? Because Sting. Always. Told her. Sting had promised he'd call or text the second he was back and he hadn't and so far he always kept his promises. She didn't need him to start disappointing her now. Groaning Lucy rolled out of bed, something she rarely did and landed on a heap on the floor. Damn Sting for being hated and damn her friends for not telling her why. Damn Natsu for finding Sting before he had a chance to text her and damn Sting for not texting her when he arrived. He must know she missed him and he must know that she wished he didn't have to leave. He was her friend! A good friend! She didn't want to only get to see him once or twice a year. It just wasn't enough.

There was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Lucy. Are you okay? Why aren't you up yet? Class starts in ten minutes." Damn Lisanna for somehow being involved in the whole thing. Lucy sighed and pushed herself off the floor with a groan. Ten minutes until class huh? What wasn't like her at all.

"I'm coming." Lucy groaned and got to her feet, put on the first thing she found in her closet and grabbed a change of clothes just in case. She stuffed everything she'd need for class that day and grabbed her pointe-shoes from the knob on her closet door. She inspected them quickly and concluded that they would probably break after one more use.

When she stepped out of her room Lisanna handed her and apple with a worried look on her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked and looked at the shoes in Lucy's hand. "We don't have ballet today." She added and tried to meet Lucy's eye, but she walked past her to the door while stuffing the shoes in her bag too.

"I know." Lucy said and pulled on her outdoor shoes. "But I really need to dance." She took a bite out of her apple and stepped out of the apartment. Lisanna hurried after her and didn't say a word when Lucy ate the entire apple, core included, that wasn't like her either.

'I need to dance' was short for 'I'm not in a good mood, dancing will be my only cheer-up today, don't get mad if I don't say much.' it also meant 'Please don't talk to me today.' Generally Lucy and Lisanna had agreed to try to remove themselves from people if and when they were in a bad mood instead of taking it out on each other. The fact that Lisanna was part of the reason Lucy's bad mood didn't help things along at all though and since she and Lucy nearly spent every waking moment with each other wouldn't make removing herself from her a passing by thing.

At least one thing was for certain, she was going to have to cheer up if she was going to be a remotely good teacher for Natsu later that day. Natsu. He too was part of the Sting drama. Damn him. Lucy was certain that that day, she would have to dance hard and long to even cheer up a little. She pushed her phone out of her pocket at wrote.

To: Natsu Sent: 07.56

Dance at 5?

Just as she stepped into her dancehall she phone vibrated.

From: Natsu Received: 08.00

See you then =D

Lucy's heart made a pirouette that made her frown. It was the first text she'd ever received from Natsu and he was happy to see her. The love-strings of her heart were definitely strung but the pitch was off. He was part of her unhappiness. That day more than ever Lucy understood why people had chosen sides in the past. It seemed that her choice was going to have to be made and it wasn't going to be easy. A friend or a (potential) lover.

Wednesday morning flew by in a rush along with most of the afternoon. Wednesday's dance class was working with prof. Strauss on the routines for the annual dance festival and since it was the beginning of term, it was all basic stuff. They rehearsed the routines they'd learned so far and after that prof. Strauss introduced them to the new material. Learning new routines always made time fly by for Lucy and it was particularly suiting since, as long as she understood and got all the steps, she didn't have to talk to anyone and no one had to talk to her.

The afternoon went by quickly for the opposite reason. In both English and religion the teacher had the class talking and discussing a subject and Lucy had to put up a friendly face. She couldn't after all be grumpy at people who weren't at fault.

At three classes were over and Lucy was the first to leave the classroom with her bag slung over her shoulder and hurried to the dance halls. If people hadn't been littering the halls she could have considered changing on her way. As it was, she couldn't until she was in the dance hall and luckily she got one of the rooms that didn't have a massive glass wall. They were usually the ones that dancers chose first for the same reason that Lucy wanted one now - she needed privacy.

Lucy had barely thrown off her things and stepped into her jazz shoes before she threw herself into the music. Thank goodness for prof. Ichia's lesson that taught her to shut everything else out. It was exactly what she needed. Some simple alone time with just her body, the music and the floor. After an hour of jazz she changed shoes to her pointe shoes and danced contemporary ballet until that familiar prickling sensation of someone watching her told her that Natsu had arrived.

Her first impulse was to tell him to go away. She wanted to keep dancing, to dance until her feet hurt and then some, she wanted to spin and move in the ways that she couldn't or wouldn't in her everyday life. If it were up to her, she would never stop dancing, at least not for that day. She wanted to dance and not teach.

The door opened and closed and someone shuffled in the corner. Lucy assumed that Natsu had sat down and was watching her dance. She didn't want to look at him, afraid that his handsome features would bring back her anger at Sting and subsequently also Natsu and Lisanna. Sadly, that thought alone brought out the rage that she'd tried to stow away all day long. Lucy stopped dead, brought her lifted leg back down and met her glaring eyes. It surprised her at first, she hadn't realized the tightness in her forehead and face. She raised her eyebrows and felt a lot of tension lift from her frown. She turned to Natsu, dressed in black shorts and a blue shirt, his scarf in his hand, and indeed that moment she saw him, anger rushed through her body. She was immensely happy that her face was already flushed and wouldn't show her red faced anger. When Natsu's face fell though, it seemed that her anger showed in other ways than her red face.

"What's up?" Natsu asked and Lucy could hear that he very much tried to sound cheerful and not accusatory. Lucy wanted to turn away and tell him to leave. Natsu came to his feet and walked over to her. She met his eyes only briefly. He stopped only a few hands widths away from her and the heat emanating from his body was strangely soothing. She had to force herself from leaning into it and Natsu but it wasn't as hard as it had been in the past. When she noticed it, she scowled and wanted to kick herself. Both because she wanted to be close to him and because she was angry at whatever he and Sting were involved in. Natsu raised his eyebrows, seemingly expecting an answer

"It's nothing." She said and turned away, holding her arm for comfort. She almost laughed at herself. Her body-language and face obviously stated something completely different and the fact that she resigned to such a lame-ass excuse only made it clear how upset she really was. Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and that action alone told Lucy how worthless her attempt of brushing her anger aside had been.

"I'm angry at Sting, okay." Lucy burst out. Natsu's posture didn't change.

"That makes two of us." He said in an undertone. Lucy turned to him, eyes ablaze. Natsu wasn't fazed by her intense glare.

"And that's the second thing! I seem to be the only one in all of Magnolia who doesn't know why!" There was a knock on the door and Lisanna poked her head through the opening. Relief flushed her features and Lucy heard her let a breath out. Lucy's jaws only tightened at Lisanna's presence. She wasn't at all happy to see her.

"You ran off so quickly, I got worried." Lisanna said and came inside. Natsu didn't take his eyes off Lucy and she could see that he was breathing hard. If he was angry, who was his anger directed at, or was it that anger at Sting coming to the surface? Or was it something completely different?

"It's a long story." Natsu said eventually. Lucy wasn't sure if he had even heard Lisanna or if he noticed her carefully coming closer to them. His eyes were still planted on her and she didn't look away either. She held out her arms indicating the time they had and the space for privacy that was around them. She knew it was probably a touchy subject and that she was being disrespectful by demanding to know. But these were her friends. She felt the need to understand since, being friends with both Sting and Natsu, she was right smack dab in the middle of it.

Lisanna stopped a few meters behind Natsu. Her cheeks flushed red and her eyes flickered between Lucy's and the back of Natsu's head.

"You seem to be in the middle of something." She said and made to turn.

"Actually." Natsu said and his face grew hard and void of emotion. "You should stay, you're part of it anyway." He said and Lisanna cringed. She must have guessed what was going and what they were talking about. Lucy heard her take a few deep breaths then turned back to face Natsu' back.

"Are you sure, Natsu." Her tone surprised Lucy. Lisanna could speak rather harshly in tone and words sometimes. This was as soft as a lover's touch, like a brush against a puppy's fur. A brush so soft it made Lucy's eyes widen. Natsu bit down hard on his jaw and fisted his hands. He didn't look at her but he didn't have to. Lisanna took a step back on her own and turned down her eyes. Natsu bit his lip, he seemed to want to say more but it was as if he tried to keep himself from it.

Lucy suddenly realized that Natsu and Lisanna must have known each other for quite some time and they probably had been friends once. They weren't friends now, that much was clear. Something or someone had drawn a wedge between them. A very large wedge.

Natsu met Lucy's eye and his expression softened. He cast a glance behind him and his hands tightened again. Lucy desperately wanted to know what he was thinking about. His face was rarely so hard to read, or he was rarely in such deep thought. Lucy let her arms fall to the side. She hadn't even realized she'd crossed them under her chest. Since it was going to be a long story they might as well sit down. So Lucy simply flopped herself onto the floor and started untying her shoes. Natsu followed suit, his eyes fast on Lucy's feet and Lisanna followed a moment later but sat a little distance away. Natsu scowled at her and she rolled her eyes and scooted close enough for them to sit in an equal triangle.

They sat in silence for a while. Natsu's eyes were planted on Lucy's feet and Lucy's' eyes were planted on his hands in his lap. They were so still as if they had never clenched to a first in their life time. It it hadn't been for his tightly knotted forearms they might have even looked restful. He didn't fondle with his fingernails or something like that. He sat there, watched her hands as she pulled off her shoes one by one. She ran her hands over her shoes and felt that they were completely broken. She brushed over the soft satin and said goodbye to another shoe, she had run through so many before. Lisanna, what was Lisanna doing? Lucy was too busy staring at Natsu's still hands to look at her. Besides, the silence was becoming so thick Lucy started to worry whether or not she really wanted to hear the story. Then Lisanna sighed loudly and her usual snappy voice came back.

"Goodness, it's not so fucking hard!" She glared at Lucy whose eyes had snapped to hers. "Natsu and I used to be a couple, I cheated, easy as that. Can I go now?" Lucy's eyebrows lifted and her jaw nearly fell to the floor. Natsu scowled.

"It's not actually that simple." He said in a low tone.

"Oh isn't it?" Lisanna snapped at him. "Do you want to go through all the sad details of my betrayal? Are you that desperate to relive all the dirty details?" Nastu turned his scowl on her.

"She has the right to know! She's our friend." He nearly shouted. "You should have told her a long time ago." He turned his gaze back to Lucy who was still processing their words. Especially the ones about them having been a couple once. The way Lisanna sometimes spoke about Natsu had always been so exaggerated. Either like someone who didn't really like the person or like someone who was very close to the person. Since Lisanna and Natsu weren't close, she had always assumed that Lisanna didn't like Natsu at all.

With a lot of effort Lucy closed her mouth and met Natsu's eyes. They were hard with resolution but also full of sadness. Lisanna crossed her arms and looked away. Natsu took a deep breath.

"Yes, that's what happened, but there's a lot more to it." He drew his hand through his hair and rubbed his forehead. "Urgh, where do I start?" He mumbled.

In an effort to help him along Lucy asked.

"How long were you together?" Did she really want to know? Natsu looked up, his right eye blocked by his hand. He swallowed and hummed as he thought.

"Depends on when you start counting." Lisanna said her face still turned away. Lucy couldn't make out much by her expression and her voice was so strange to her that she didn't really know what to make of Lisanna's words. "We spent a long of time together as kids. Officially we got to together at thirteen when I kissed Natsu for the first time. In that little straw hut we built to play house with Happy. At least, that was when I started counting, so three years." Lisanna said. Lucy blushed and was suddenly even more uncertain if she wanted to know the story if it contained details like that. Absentmindedly she pulled at the fabric of her pointe-shoes, it didn't matter if she broke them even more now.

Out of the corner of her eyes Lucy saw Lisanna smile and look at her, her arms coming lose. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees.

"Sorry." She said. "All of this happened before either Natsu or Erza started Fiore Academy. She, Gray, Levy were all there in the middle of it, that's why they know. Gray's probably told Juvia, that's why she knows, I don't know about Gajeel though." She took another deep breath and fastened her eyes on a spot on the floor in their middle. Although Natsu still had his hands in fists and jaw clenched he looked rather relieved that Lisanna was telling the story and he didn't have to.

"It started in spring four years ago. Natsu was doing his application for Fiore Academy, bootcamp, you know, we all go through it. This was when Natsu got to know Sting. I don't know how but the two of them suddenly seemed to be hitting it off." Natsu cut in.

"He's a year older and was leading one of the exercises and when I ran by him he caught up to me and asked me what I was applying for. Then he said he'd love to fight me one day and I punched him. Instead of calling a teacher though he laughed and said he'd give me this round. How could I not like the guy." He said. Lucy smiled, sometimes Natsu really was a simple person, that was how she liked him.

"I always thought that the two of you and your friendship would be BFF style like Erza and Jellal or you and Gray although you say you hate each other. No need to grumble like that, it's the truth and you'd be hard pressed to find better friends in all of Magnolia. Apparently Sting had other plans though. I've told you before that Sting always has an agenda of his own and that he doesn't stop until he's got what he wants. Well, four years ago, what he wanted was me.

"I'm not going to deny it even if I'm not proud of it, it was nice to be wanted that way. It's the reason why it happened in the first place. You see, everyone around us knew that Natsu and I were together. We'd always been together and if you'd asked anyone they would have told you what we were going to get married and all that. No one ever questioned it and neither did I or Natsu. Sting did though. And he saw 'flaws' as he called them. Really they were what goes on in a long term relationship. It wasn't necessary for us to walk hand in hand all the time or tell each other 'I love you' like they do when they're freshly in love. Sting gave it a completely different spin though. He said that all those 'things we didn't need to do because we already knew them' were signs that our relationship was crumbling. At the same time he flirted with me like there was no tomorrow. So whilst I was thinking my relationship with Natsu might be a dead-end, Sting was showing me 'All the things I was missing out on.'

"Of course, since I spent so much time with Sting the relationship was crumbling for real, only I wasn't there to notice that I was the problem. The more problems I caused, Stings used them as a new ways to show me that what I had with Natsu wasn't working and wouldn't be working out ever and that I should be with him instead and I believed him. One day I simply believed him to a point that I was unfaithful and well, fucked him.

"That wasn't it though. It wasn't enough to take me away from Natsu, Sting also had to rub it in his face. Just hours after I'd slept with him he went to Natsu, not as his good friend but to gloat about his conquest. When I arrived Sting was already there describing every detail and I mean every detail. Every position, every touch and…"

"Lisanna, get on with the story. Once was quite enough." Natsu said

"Why. Does it still Sting?" Lisanna said, the jab was probably intended. Natsu ignored it.

"It will never be a pleasant memory." He said and looked away. There was a short break, then Lisanna went on.

"Every time Sting sees Natsu he grins very smugly, even now, four years later and well, Natsu has a temper." Natsu didn't deny it. It felt a bit off that his eyes were still fastened on Lucy's. It wasn't like she was going to explode or do a trick. There was no use to tell Natsu that he should ignore Sting, ignoring someone wasn't something Natsu did even if it probably was for his own good. Lisanna sighed and Lucy looked at her.

"I know this makes things a little weird for the two of you given the situation. That's why I haven't told you before. I didn't want out past to get in your way." She gestured with a finger between Lucy and Natsu. The implication made Lucy blush madly and she ignored the prickling at the back of her neck that was Natsu's stare.

"What situation?" Natsu asked and Lucy nearly slapped her hand to her forehead. Sometimes was just as dim as Lisanna and Gray said he was. Now that Lucy knew about Lisanna's past with Natsu though, the insults seemed both more endearing and honest. Lisanna glared at Natsu in a way that clearly said 'are you really that stupid.' But she said

"If I have to tell you that, there is no situation." And after a few moments of intense glaring from both parts, Natsu blushed bright red and looked away. Lisanna smiled and met Lucy's eyes. The connection only lasted a moment.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." She said and looked away. Her voice was soft again, so very soft. She seemed like a completely different person, as if the break up with Natsu had changed her too. Lucy had always considered Lisanna as one of her best friends and it seemed that she had suddenly seen a completely different side of her. Lucy was sure that whatever Natsu had lost that day, Lisanna had lost some of it too.

Suddenly Lisanna stood up.

"I should go, you were going to practice right?" It wasn't really a question and she brushed at some imaginary dirt on her pants. Lucy stood too when Lisanna turned to leave and caught up to her by the door. She pulled her around by the shoulder and pulled her into a rib crushing hug. It was strange. Lucy found herself close to tears all of the sudden. She pushed face into Lisanna's shoulder and shuddered as Lisanna warm hands patted her back.

"I know you'll take good care of him." Lisanna said in that same honey sweet voice and Lucy felt her smile against her head. That was it. Why Lucy felt tears running into Lisanna's shoulder. Lisanna knew that she had lost Natsu forever and although she still loved him, she knew that Lucy could make him happy. Natsu deserved to be happy. Lisanna had given Natsu to Lucy and Lucy was immensely grateful.

Slowly she pulled away and Lisanna took her face into her hands, wiping at her tears with her thumbs. Her eyes were wide and soft and a sad smile played on her lips. She looked so different, so innocent and not like someone who could have broken Natsu's heart. Had Sting done this to her or was it her own betrayal? Or was it a consequence of losing Natsu's love. Lucy wanted to cry out loud, kiss Lisanna and tell her that everything was going to be okay. Only she was the one who was crying like a child. She was overwhelmed by the gift she had been given. She could only bring herself to mouth a 'thank you' while more tears trickled down her cheeks and landed on her collarbone. Lisanna's smile widened. She looked so sweet, like she could do nothing wrong in this world.

"Stop denying it, okay." She said and raised her eyebrows for emphasis. Lucy only nodded. "He feels the same way, I can see it in his eyes." Lisanna looked behind Lucy. Was there longing in her eyes? Lucy couldn't tell through her blurry vision. Lisanna looked down, smiled, then met Lucy's eyes again and gripped her cheeks hard. "Now go and teach him how to properly dance." She nodded towards Natsu and Lucy nodded again. Lisanna let go of Lucy's face and Lucy dried her face on her hands. They smiled at each other one more time, Lisanna nodded and slipped out of the dancehall. Lucy heard the soft thud of Lisanna leaning heavily on the door outside and she swallowed hard. Grateful as she was, she wondered what that might have meant.

When Lucy turned to face Natsu he was standing in the middle of the room, facing the mirror. Their eyes met and Lucy suddenly realized that had an actual class with him. She have been in the same situation before but now that she knew that Natsu felt the same way about her, it changed things. And at that very realization she remembered that mystery lover that she wanted to find. Something told her that she needed to find whoever it was and for some reason that she couldn't explain, she didn't think that it was Natsu. She understood now why he hadn't seemed to like that fact that she'd slept with someone that wasn't him. Even though it was nothing like when Lisanna had been with someone else, she could understand that kind of jealousy. She would have felt the same way if the roles were reversed.

Natsu. Lucy smiled when he raised his eyebrows and he smiled too, softly. He could probably see that she had cried. Would he understand why? Lucy took a deep breath and forced away her blush with a wide smile.

"Let's dance." She said and moved over to him. Her heart thumping hard in her chest.

They danced for well over two hours. It seemed to Lucy that Natsu had practiced the part of the routine he'd learned on Monday and he was even quicker to pick up the next part. They enjoyed themselves and even if Lucy several times stopped to correct Natsu, they had a lot of fun together.

Lucy managed to nearly forget Lisanna's words about Natsu's feelings. They only kept her from touching him if she could avoid it. Sometimes she had to though. It he was extending his arm or leg in the wrong way and didn't understand her instructions of how he should do it differently, she had to guide him. As much as she could she kept her hands in appropriate places. Calf or knee instead of thigh. Shoulder instead of waist. Her skin tingled wherever she touched him. Her heart fluttered when she was within two meters of him and her eyes were constantly drawn to him. That she couldn't block out.

He was handsome, simple as that, Lucy couldn't even try and deny it and the way he moved made it all the more important that Lucy didn't put her hands on any important parts of him. He might not be a dancer, but damn, when he moved, she saw that he was borne to move in those exact ways. He might not have the technique to move with the same ease as any other dancer but he was strong enough and had enough control over his body to make it move the way he wanted it to.

Lucy found herself yet again thinking that if Natsu had been a dancer, she would have given everything in her power to be paired with him. She blushed at the thought, knowing full and well it would mean his hands on her and more often than not in non-innocent places.

At 19.30 Lucy honestly though that Natsu had gotten the hang of the routine. He could move through it without needing her to dance it with him and even if he sidestepped he knew when he'd done something wrong and corrected if before Lucy had a chance to point it out. Lucy was proud of him and smiled widely.

"I think you've got it!" She told him. "How does it feel?" Natsu seemed to consider for a moment, pointing his foot in front of him. Then he looked up at Lucy, a small frown on his forehead.

"I wouldn't move like this normally. It's a bit weird." He said and when Lucy laughed, he smiled too. It was the first happy smile Lucy had seen on him that day and it made her heart jump.

"If you can remember it until Monday, you're good. But if you want to practice more, I've got Sunday free." Lucy said and rather hoped that he would accept. She like to watch him move. She loved to watch him dance.

"I think one more rehearsal would do me good." He said and Lucy had to keep from jumping and squealing like a little girl. Her heart did it for her. She smiled, probably a bit too widely and nodded. Natsu frowned momentarily and moved his mouth as if he was chewing on something that tasted funny. When he met her eyes he stopped and raised his eyebrows.

"So, do you need me for anything else?" He grinned and put his hands on his hips. Lucy blushed slightly. She could use his hands on her hips, moving against her. She could use his heat against her back and his lips against her neck. His hands dipping over her stomach brushing her chest, keeping her warm. She could use his lips on hers.

"Not really, you're good to go." Lucy smiled and hoped her red face didn't show too much. Natsu didn't even look disappointed. He too had a blush on his cheeks and his eyes were planted on her stomach. Quickly Lucy took stock of her hands and prayed that they were in appropriate places. One was on her stomach, lower stomach, the other on her hip, the very place she had put Natsu's hands last Friday. When she focused on Natsu again Lucy saw that his leg-muscles were tighter again. She needed to ask someone what that was about.

Natsu shook his head.

"Are you going to dance some more?" He asked and met her eyes. She felt as though she was swallowed whole by his black eyes. He could have had his nose touching hers and she would have seen just as much. She had never noticed how steep his eyebrows were or in fact how pale and yet full his lips were. His mouth that could grin as wide and as few as a bird. Lucy smiled.

"No, five hours is quite enough for me." She said. She didn't more. She didn't want to move. Moving meant being away from his presence. His heat, his eyes and his body, even if they weren't even that close together. She wanted him to touch her and she wanted to touch him.

Natsu nodded after a while and smiled.

"You should be hungry." He said and Lucy nodded. Right on queue her stomach growled making Lucy aware of her hand still resting dangerously low on her stomach. she dropped it and looked to where she had left her broken pointe-shoes. She hesitated, staring at them for a moment. She would have to walk past Natsu to get them and she suddenly had no idea how to normally walk past a person. She could technically walk close to him, almost brush against him, but that would be ridiculous. She might as well push herself against him, it would mean the same thing. The question was also if he would understand, if he would get the hint, or shout. How far around did she have to walk around him for it not to be so obvious? How far was too far? She was being ridiculous, she knew. She'd walked past Natsu before, why was it suddenly so hard? She knew exactly why. Because walking past him shorten the distance between them and he would be warm beside her and she wasn't sure if she would be able to move to a safe distance again. She wanted him close enough to trace her hand across his chest and hover at the back of his neck, slightly pulling at his hair. The blush that crept onto Lucy's cheeks made her jump. This was not the time to think dirty thoughts! Pull it together! She admonished herself and walked to pick up her broken pointe-shoes. She didn't brush against him and she didn't go out of her way to avoid him either. She simply tried to walk normally, whatever that was. Natsu's eyes followed her the entire way there which made her unsure if she walked normally at all. What was he looking at anyway? Were her hips swaying too much? Oh, he was too handsome to be allowed.

Practically holding her breath Lucy picked up her pointe-shoes and headed to her pack by the door. Natsu had dropped his things there too, his scarf, towel and a water bottle.

Absentmindedly Lucy picked up Natsu's scarf, white and scaly looking. It looked as though it should be rough to touch, like touching a snake or a lizard but stroking it the wrong way. Only that wasn't how it was. It was soft as baby's skin, like a bed of clouds and like a lover's kiss. No wonder he wore it all the time. She would too if it were hers.

Natsu came up behind her and picked up his towel and water bottle. He looked at her as he dried his face. He wasn't that sweaty but Lucy supposed it was more of a habit than anything else. She turned to him and they looked into each other's eyes for a while. Lucy wondered what he was thinking about and which of those thoughts made him swallow and press his lips together so hard. She also wondered what they felt like, his lips. If they were soft or hard like the rest of im. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but she didn't. Instead she draped the scarf around his neck. He tensed, his legs locked tight. In her step forward to move the scarf to his neck his breath brushed her face. It felt familiar and comforting. He smelled like a summer's day after it'd just rained. His slightly glistening forehead and drooping hair only added to that sensation and all she wanted was to lean in and take a deep breath of his fresh scent. Lucy could feel the heat emanating from him and he was warmer than usually, probably from dancing… most likely from dancing.

It surprised her a bit that he didn't move away. His face was hard and composed as that first time when he'd watched her dance. His breath was steady and he kept his eyes trained on her's. She didn't waver from his gaze. Her hands held that scarf steadily. It pulled at Natsu's neck but he didn't move. What would he do if she simply moved forward and kissed him? What would he do? Lucy hesitated and looked at his lips. They were completely still. He didn't swallow, bite his lip or crook it. It was a bit strange to see him so expressionless.

Lucy met his eyes again. No, he wasn't expressionless, he expression simply didn't translate to his entire face. His eyes said it all. "This is my question..." The tip of his tongue traced over his lower lip slowly leaving a wet trail behind. Lucy's eyes followed the steady movement and was almost transfixed by it. She wanted those lips on hers. She wanted to feel his tongue trace her lips and her tongue. "... What is your answer." Yes. Her answer was yes, a thousand times yes, oh, god, yes! But she didn't move. The weight at his neck was unrelenting, her hands steady. All Lucy needed to do was step forward and kiss him. He was sure to meet her halfway, but she didn't. Should she reach out and touch him? Place her hand on his chest? Feel his steady heartbeat there, have his heat course through her? She wanted to. She wanted him to envelop her in his heat and keep her warm forever. But she didn't. Instead she wrapped the scarf around his neck a second time, dropped the ends that she had been holding and took a step back,

"Thanks for tonight." She said in a deep voice. She held his gaze for another moment then turned away to step around him. When she had her back to him she mouthed curse after curse at herself. She had the opportunity to kiss him and she hadn't taken it. But as she cursed herself she also knew why she hadn't done it. That tremor in Lisanna's voice when she had spoken, that longing look at Natsu.

Behind her she heard Natsu let out a loud and heavy breath. Lucy didn't dare look at him, afraid that she had been wrong about it all and he was relieved that she stepped away. She stood and pulled a sweater over her head. Natsu had grabbed his things off the floor and faced her, a pale tinge of red on his cheeks. His thighs were tense again. Maybe Gray knew what that was about.

They walked out together in silence. It wasn't all that uncomfortable. It was a silence of two people who had known each other for a very long time. Lucy was unsure though if Natsu knew what her answer had been; her silent answer to his silent question. She wondered if maybe they had spoken it aloud he would have kissed her instead. While they walked though, Lucy knew one thing, she needed more answers.

At the door to Lucy's dorm building they stopped to face each other. Natsu raised his hand and waved it good bye and grinned from ear to ear. There was no disappointment in his eyes. His grin was free as always and it made Lucy want to dance more. Dance with him.

"See you tomorrow then." Natsu said still grinning.

"Tomorrow." Lucy echoed. "Crash course MMA right? Will my dancing clothes work? I don't have shorts like yours." She nodded at his shorts. Natsu nodded, his grin still plastered on his face. Was it just Lucy or did he blush again.

"Yes. A crash course!" He said a bit too loudly and Lucy thought she heard a bit of unsteadiness in his voice. Lucy wasn't sure and she didn't know what that could mean.

Natsu waved his hand again.

"See you at two." Lucy nodded with a smile of her own and Natsu turned to head home, a bit of a spring in his step.

* * *

><p>When Lucy stepped inside the dorm room she saw Lisanna pacing impatiently in the living room. She turned to Lucy when the door shut behind her and Lisanna's eyes were wide with anticipation and worry.<p>

"Please tell me you kissed him! Did you kiss him?" She practically yelled, hands extended in front of her, palms up as if she was grasping at some last strand of hope. Lucy blushed and rested her foot on her knee so she could untie her shoe. She'd almost kissed him.

"No." She said in a low voice and focused on her shoelace.

"Why?!" Lisanna yelled but didn't wait for an answer. "You had the mood, the dancing! It's even a cloudless sky with all the stars! How could you not kiss him?" Her face was an slightly exasperated mask of despair Lucy though. But there was a hint of sadness in Lisanna's eyes even if she had a point; the mood had been perfect. Why hadn't she? The closer she got to Natsu the less she cared about her mystery lover from Friday night. He had probably forgotten about her or was simply glad that the one-night-stand didn't come looking for him. More importantly, she had wanted to kiss Natsu and he her. But that tremor in Lisanna came back to Lucy.

She needed more answers.

"You still love him, don't you." Lucy said in the same low tone as before. Her shoes were off her feet and she walked over to the two couches and armchair in the middle of the room. Lisanna dropped into the armchair and her elbows came to rest on her knees. Lucy sat too and watched her friend. She wondered what her answer would be and if she would be jealous if she said yes.

"Yes." Lisanna said. Lucy's heart sank to the pit of her stomach and it wasn't because of jealousy. There was no way she could love Natsu and be with him if Lisanna, the girl she lived with, loved him too. Lisanna's betrayal of Natsu didn't matter, in this case it was about their friendship. Lisanna met Lucy's eyes and her eye widened. She shook her head and hands at her.

"Not in that way!" She said loudly. Lucy frowned, her heart still beating uncomfortably. "I love him more in the way that I love old memories. Like when you're no longer friends with someone and you see them walking along the street but they don't recognize you. You see them and you smile at the wonderful times you used to have but you know that you can't have that back because the distance is just too great between you two." Lisanna hesitated and swallowed hard. Her eyes left Lucy's and she stared down into her hands but she didn't seem to be seeing them at all. Her hands shook and she licked her lips as she hesitated. "I begged him to take me back you know. Several times… He didn't though, never… He was civil about it too, probably the first time I've seen it. He didn't even beat on Gray. That was when I knew how bad I'd hurt him." Lucy watched Lisanna silently. She wasn't entirely sure why Lisanna was telling her this. Every word made it harder for Lucy to allow herself to love Natsu. Maybe the refusal of people talking about it had been a coping-mechanism and now that it was all out in the open and fresh in her memories, more of those feelings came forth. Maybe Lisanna had never really spoken about it. Lucy could only imagine how all of their friends must have felt being in the middle of their break up. Had she been a similar situation, she probably wouldn't want to pull them any further into it but that would also leave her very alone.

"I know that my choices separated us and I know that I can never be with him. I respect him for not taking me back and I think that if he had, I probably wouldn't love him the way I do now. I think that if he had, I would have thought that he wasn't the person I thought he was. Natsu is so true to himself and honest in his being. He's Natsu down to the core you know and if he'd taken me back he wouldn't be." Lisanna looked at her hands as if she was remembering something valuable that she used to own. With her next words her hands clenched into tight fists, her knuckles white against her pale skin.

"I love him more now that I ever did and even if I wanted to, I would never be able to be with him again."

Lucy swallowed and frowned. She didn't understand. Lisanna said that she didn't want to be with Natsu (in a way) and at the same time, she loved him dearly. She loved him to a point where she was shaking and biting down hard on her jaw to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes. Lucy knew that look, she had seen it every once in a while. How could Lisanna love Natsu and not want to be with him. Wasn't love a wish to be with a person all the time, see them live and smile, be inspired by them and see them happy? Was that it maybe? Did she want all that, but was willing to see it all from afar, like that dear old friend that you could never be with again.

"You want to see him happy?" Lucy asked with a frown on her forehead. Lisanna looked up, hands still in fists, lips pressed tight together and tears in her eyes. Lucy couldn't bring herself to move closer to Lisanna and take her hand or comfort her. She sat rigidly on the couch, her own hands clasped in front of her, elbows on knees.

"More than anything in the world." Lisanna said and tears rolled down her cheeks. "More than anything in the world."

There was a pause where Lucy's heart throbbed painfully for her friend.

"Lisanna… I…" Lucy began. How could she explain how impossible her choice was. Lisanna, Sting or Natsu. Two friends or a friend and a lover, she wanted all three of them and the more she thought about it the closer she leaned to two friends, only it would cause the third person more pain than she had previously known. Lisanna held up her hand and wiped at her tears with the other.

"Don't. I know you like each other and it would only make him angry, sad and heartbroken all over again if you told him no because of me. Let him love you, let yourself love him!" Exactly! What was the problem! Desperate Lucy looked for a way out.

"But you…" Lisanna cut her off again.

"I fancy Lyon, remember. And even if I didn't, there's plenty of eye-candy around school… Just… I want him to move on and he can do that with you."

Lucy said nothing. That wasn't the point and although Lisanna's words all made sense tears spilled out of her eyes without any restrictions. If Lisanna wanted Lucy to make Natsu happy, then why was she crying so?

Lucy moved to crouch in front of Lisanna and took one of her hands in hers. She looked up at her, white hair framing her face, cheeks turning red and puffy. Lucy squeezed Lisanna's hand but she only cried harder. All this for Natsu's happiness with Lucy? She didn't understand!

"Lisanna, you can't tell me you're happy about me and Natsu, look at you!" Lisanna cried and said nothing. Lucy pulled her off the armchair onto the floor so she could hug her close. Damp hands enclosed Lucy in a shivering hug. Lisanna's shoulders quivered with the effort to hold back sobs.

"I need him to move on!" Lisanna cried into Lucy's shoulder. "If he doesn't, I won't be able to either."

Lucy held Lisanna close while she cried. She wasn't entirely sure how to feel. She could either be with Natsu and hope that Lisanna was speaking the truth and that her tears only came from the memory of losing him. At the same time, if she changed her mind or fell out of love with Natsu, she wouldn't only hurt him but Lisanna too. And Lisanna's words were as two hands pushing her to be with Natsu, telling her what a good choice he would be and how good he was, instead of telling her to follow her heart. It all made her resist the push. She would rather stand on the edge of the hill with her sled intact than go down to where she really wanted to be with the risk of breaking her sled and her friend's heart on the go. Because if she gave into the push, wouldn't it also, deep down, be a little for Lisanna's sake. How could she be with someone for someone else's sake?

And wouldn't she deep down wonder if he compared her to Lisanna? Wouldn't she wonder if they were doing the same things that they used to do? Wasn't that the risk with any new relationship? Only in this case, she knew exactly who the ex was. In fact, she knew the ex better than the boy. Now that she knew about their history, would she ever be able to forget about it or look past it?

Lisanna pulled away from Lucy slowly, leaning back on her heels, looking down at her hands that fell to her lap. She probably guessed what Lucy was thinking.

In Lucy's jacket pocket her phone vibrated but she ignored it and leaned back on her own heels.

"I think he knows." Lisanna said suddenly. Lucy raised her eyebrows but Lisanna didn't look up. Lucy waited another while, then Lisanna went on. "Natsu… he…" Another pause." I think he knows that this might cause you pain." Lucy's lips trembled. That was why he had waited for her answer. It was why she hadn't kissed him and why he hadn't kissed her. Lucy had probably known deep down that Lisanna still loved Natsu and knew it would cause her pain if she pursued Natsu. Maybe, if she broke it off now, he wouldn't be so hurt? Better to stop before something bigger started, right? But things had already started. They had started when she draped his scarf around his neck and didn't let go. It started when she watched him dance, when he told her he wanted to help her with her assignment, when he told her he wanted to dance with her again, when she saw him in a towel and when they danced together Friday night. Breaking it off now would be painful either way. Not flirting with him would be painful.

"I think he does." Lucy said in an undertone and looked over to her jacket. Her phone had vibrated again. Another message or a reminder? Lucy got to her feet and Lisanna looked up at her with big innocent and puffy red eyes. Small, innocent, sweet Lisanna. How had she and Natsu been when they were friends, when they were a couple? What did they talk about, laugh and argue about? Had Lisanna been a different person then or was it the snappy side of her that Natsu liked?

It was probably best if she never knew.

She reached her hands down to Lisanna.

"Come on, I'll make some tea." She pulled Lisanna to her feet and let her sit on the armchair again. With her hand she told her to stay and she went to grab her phone and headed into the kitchen. Only when the water was on the boil and she had bags of tea in two large cups did she check her phone.

From: Natsu Received 20.15

Eat dinner with me?

Lucy's heart fluttered and her cheeks flushed. How could she say no and how could she leave Lisanna?

She tucked the phone in the waistband of her pants and poured water in the cups. It smelled of hot flowers and honey. Carefully she carried the two cups to the living room. Lisanna sat with her phone in her hands but she tucked it quickly away when Lucy handed her one of the cups.

"Did you add sugar?" Lisanna asked, her voice was soft and only contained a trace of her usual snappiness. Lucy looked at her, blowing at her own tea.

"A spoonful of honey." She said and Lisanna looked away. Normally she would have scowled and grumbled but she only put the cup to her lips and blew over the steaming tea. Lucy suspected, by the look of her, that Lisanna used to be an entirely different person. Someone who spoke in a soft voice and smiled a lot, like her sister, prof Mira-Jane Strauss. Looking at Lisanna now, Lucy thought that she seemed rather content though with puffy eyes and rosy cheeks as if she had finally released a very heavy burden. They sipped on their tea in silence for a while. Lisanna's phone vibrated and she checked it. No emotion registered on her face and she tucked her phone away again. It reminded Lucy that she could probably answer Natsu and tell him that tonight might not be good. 'It would only make him angry, sad and heartbroken all over again if you told him no because of me.' Lisanna's words echoed through Lucy's mind. She couldn't leave her like this. Tears spilled out of Lisanna's eyes again while she sipped her tea. How could Lisanna expect Lucy to be with Natsu when she looked like this. Even if she said that if Natsu was happy she would be happy, Lucy simply didn't believe it. No one was the selfless.

Lisanna's phone vibrated again and she checked it quickly before tucking it away again. Who was it texting her anyway and why didn't she answer? Lisanna always answered texts.

Lucy must have frowned. Lisanna met her eye and smiled through her tears.

"It's Gray wondering what I did to Natsu this time. Apparently he's picking a fight with him and he's got a date with Juvia." Lisanna said and looked down at her cup.

"Should we go and stop them?" Lucy asked. Their first choice would have been to ask Erza for help. She was the best at gauging their fights and in the end also stop them with more force than needed. Erza was probably neck deep in going through her fight though and would probably not even answer her phone if they tried.

"I shouldn't go anywhere near Natsu when he's sought out Gray for a fight. You should go." Lisanna said, her voice shaky and she pointedly avoided Lucy's gaze.

"I can't just leave you here like this." Lucy said. Lisanna smiled and sipped her tea. She wasn't convincing Lucy with the smile though.

"Sure you can, you just step through that door and off you go." Lucy frowned.

"Lisanna…." She started but Lisanna held up her hand.

"Just go." Lisanna said still not meeting her eye. A pause, then Lisanna looked up, tears brimming in her eyes, her lips trembled and her hand shook. "Please." Her words were barely a whisper.

Reluctantly Lucy left, changed clothes quickly, shorts and a simple top. She stepped into her shoes and looked at Lisanna for confirmation that she would be alright but she avoided Lucy's gaze. Lucy saw tears dripping on Lisanna's lap and her shoulders shook although she strained to keep them still. Lucy hesitated and looked up at Lisanna one last time. She didn't meet her eye though and Lucy stepped out into the corridor. Just before Lucy closed the door she heard a shuddering gasp and a cry that sounded like a dying animal. Lisanna let out the most horrible sound Lucy had ever hear. She almost went back inside. She wanted to hold Lisanna and tell her that things would be alright. But Lucy knew that Lisanna wanted to be alone, that much was obvious. Lucy knew now that Lisanna had lied about not loving Natsu in that way, that much was obvious now too. No one cried like that out of the wish for someone else to be happy. With a heavy sigh and her heart twisting around itself for her best friend, Lucy walked off through the empty corridor. White washed but dirty walls and doors left and right followed her in her desperate wish to know what on earth to do. A few of the doors stood open and people shouted across the hall to their neighbour. It sounded like they were planning a marathon, on a school night.

Lucy hurried down the two flights of stairs. Her mind was still on Lisanna and when that cry of heart pain echoed through her mind she wanted nothing else but to run back and tell her that she wouldn't be with Natsu if it hurt her so much. On the other hand, Lucy believed that Lisanna needed Natsu to move one, so no matter what she did, Lisanna would be in pain.

One thing at a time, Lucy thought. First she would make sure that Gray wouldn't be in pain, that was easiest to fix.

* * *

><p>Lucy found Natsu and Gray at Gray's… his parent's mansion and Lucy heard before she saw that the two of them were already fighting. Thuds and cries of anger and pain echoed through the still evening and Lucy found them in the grass behind a row of bushes to the left of the big driveway.<p>

It was a gruesome fight and it seemed that they had been going at it for quite some time. Blood was splattered down Gray's front and down his chin. He was shirtless (of course) and the dark blood stood in stark contrast to his pale body. Natsu had blood splattered over the left side of his face and shoulder and blood oozed out of a cut on his left cheek. Another cut on his forehead led a trail of blood down the right side of his face. Bruises littered on their bodies and left traces of blood from their knuckles there. Neither Natsu nor Gray noticed her as she came around the bush and for a moment she was too speechless to stop their fight. Gray was surprisingly good at fighting and was able to hold his own against Natsu and Natsu wasn't holding back. Maybe he was fighting differently from when he was in a real MMA fight. He was wide open, no guard at all. Lucy had learned that much from watching Erza fight. It seemed that Natsu wanted to be punched as well as punch, that was probably why a punching bag in the gym wasn't enough.

"Both of you! Stop it!" Lucy yelled. She didn't dare go anywhere near them, afraid that she would be caught by one of the flailing fists. This fight was different from the one on Tuesday, then they had only just gotten started. This fight was fueled by anger and the anger had been able to simmer for the time they'd been fighting and some before then too.

"Hey!" Lucy yelled. It was enough to make Natsu glance at her and growl. The furious scowl caught Lucy off guard and she stepped back. She had never seen Natsu so angry and even less so have that emotion directed at her. Then Natsu caught Gray clean on the jaw without even looking at him. More blood flew through the air. Lucy watched it land thick on the perfectly cut grass. Gray barely even stumbled and didn't care when more blood spilled over his jaw from the damage in his mouth. He simply retaliated, ducked under Natsu's block and caught him clean in the stomach, twice. Natsu groaned and seemed to double over a moment.

"Gray! Stop!" Lucy said loudly. What else could she do. She had never seen them fight like this, Erza had been there to stop their fights from becoming more than bickering and insults as far as she knew. Even Erza's fights were tame compared to this and they often left both parts dark with bruises. She had never seen a fight this violent, never with so much blood.

"He started it!" Gray yelled back and caught Natsu on his breastbone. Natsu coughed and stumbled and threw himself right back and Gray and caught him in the stomach and a punch to the jaw. More blood flew.

"I don't care! Stop it the both of you!" They ignored her. Natsu's next punch was blocked which landed him a knee in the stomach. Gray tried to throw him to the ground by the hair but Natsu threw out his leg and caught Gray in three quick kicks; one on the shoulder, hip and one one the knee. Gray cried out in pain and buckled to his knees.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried and covered her mouth with her hands. She wanted to run at him and tackle him to the ground so he wouldn't fight any more but she didn't dare go near him. Natsu fist raised to finish the fight while Gray groggily pulled away on the ground. "Natsu, please."

Natsu's eyes were intense when he turned to her. They were practically aflame. Lucy didn't turn away, she didn't look away. She barely even blinked. She didn't entirely understand the feeling that rushed through her at that moment. She was relieved, almost happy that he had listened to her and stopped, but by the look in his eyes she suddenly realized something that she hadn't seen before. It had probably been the reason why she had never gone to one of his fights before. Lisanna was right about Natsu being loyal, but he was also passionate. He committed his entire being, his entire soul to the things he did. Especially his fighting. He was Natsu down to the core. Lucy realized that Natsu wasn't only that goofy kid like man with the happy smile that set her free. He was also dangerous, very dangerous to his enemies. She didn't know how Natsu hadn't beaten Sting to a pulp yet or why he didn't when he found out about him and Lisanna. What she did know was that his glowing black eyes made her heart thump in a way that it hadn't done before. It beat as if it didn't know if it should be afraid and be prepared to run or if it should flutter in excitement so it did both at the same time. It made her very conscious about her fingers pressing against her hip.

With a groan Gray stood up behind Natsu and wiped blood off his chin. It did little to improve his bloodied state.

"Are you done?" He asked in a grumble. Natsu's eyes didn't move from Lucy's and he didn't move a muscle, his fist still raised ready to strike. It was a contrast to his previous agile moments in the fight. Natsu nodded, slowly, his eyes never moving from Lucy's. Gray grumbled something about needing to take another shower and disappeared through the big double doors of the mansion, limping slightly. Lucy heard the doors fall shut and when they did Natsu blinked and seemed to come out his trance like state. His eyebrows lifted and his entire posture straightened. His arm dropped, his hands unclenched and he winced.

"Lucy." He said and he sounded surprised. Lucy didn't answer. The fire in his eyes and shrunken dramatically but she could still see it there bruning away at his anger.

"What are you doing here?" He asked slowly and looked at his knuckles, then at his shirt. He didn't sound happy to see her but not really angry either. He poked at a spot of blood on his shirt and only then did Lucy see that it too was covered with blood. Her heart twitched and fluttered again.

"Stopping your fight." Lucy answered just as slowly, her eyes never leaving his bloody hands. That strange thumping of her heart returned and in a strange way, she liked it. Probably more than she cared to admit.

"Besides that." Natsu said without looking at her. Again he didn't sound angry, rather annoyed mixed with a bit of embarrassment. Lucy hesitated.

"Lisanna asked me to come." She said. She cringed when Natsu's eyes flashed to hers and the flame was burning brightly in them again. He didn't answer and stared down at his chest again, occasionally scratching at the dried blood on his cheek.

"She still loves you, you know." Lucy said and Natsu eyes darkened and his jaw locked tight. His frown deepened, it seemed to hurt. Lucy looked away from him. She wasn't sure why she'd said it.

"I know." Natsu said with a heavy sigh. He scratched the back of his neck and winced again. He looked down at his chest and sighed again.

"She also knows you won't take her back." Lucy said. Natsu chuckled joylessly and the corners of his mouth barely lifted. Lucy longed for that smile of his. How would it look together with that fire in his eyes? Lucy hesitated. Natsu met her eyes again and they were as intense as before but kinder. Lucy's heart fluttered and she hesitated again, biting her lip. Natsu bit down on his jaw and took a deep breath.

"Do you still love her?" Lucy said so fast she was unsure Natsu heard her. He did. He paled a bit and his hands clenched into fists.

"Not in a love, love sort of way. I…" He pressed his lips together and looked up at the dark sky as if words would magically appear for him there. "We spent a lot of time together… Remembering those times is the only thing that keeps me from hating her." Lucy already regretted asking. She didn't want to cause him any more pain. She stepped forward and Natsu's eyes snapped to hers. "It helps that she's very different from back then." He added stiffly and pulled his shirt off over his head, not bothering with the buttons. He looked at the shirt for a moment before he balled it up and looked around. Then he stepped over to the large trash bin behind the corner of the mansion.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked just as he lifted the lid. Natsu looked at her with a frown.

"The shirt is bloody, I'm throwing it away." He said as if stating something obvious. Lucy hurried over to him and grabbed the shirt out of his hand. His hot skin brushed hers momentarily and Lucy forced herself not to jump back at the sudden contact, or for that matter, jump into him.

"Then you wash it." Lucy said. "Come one, let's clean you up." The shirt was hot in her hand and Lucy wasn't entirely sure if it was because of his body heat of because of the blood. As they walked to the double doors of the Fullbuster mansion the fabric slowly grew cold and stiff. As they walked through the halls Lucy's eyebrows raised on their own accord. She realized that she, in a sort of way, had offered to wash Natsu and he hadn't objected.

Not until they were in the kitchen did Lucy turn to Natsu and only then did she see the full extent of his injuries. The left cheek had a large gash over his cheekbone. Blood had trickled down his chin from a cut in his lip Dry blood laced the side of his face. Bruises and drops of blood littered his arms and the places where his shirt had been unbuttoned. The bruises were mostly centered around his midriff and upper arms, it seemed that those were the places most worth hitting in a fight.

The kitchen staff had already left so Lucy rummaged through the drawers on her own until she found a bowl and a rug. She filled the bowl with lukewarm water and ordered Natsu to sit on the table. She sat on the chair to his left and held out her hand so he would place his there.

"I can clean my own hands you know. It's not the first time I'm bloody like this." Natsu said, his face turned away, a soft blush on his cheeks.

"Do you want to do it by yourself?" Lucy asked and held the cloth out to him. She hoped her eyes were as challenging as she felt. At the same time she blushed slightly, she was definitely offering to wash Natsu. His entire face reddened in turn and shook his head slightly. When Lucy held out her hand again Natsu put his in hers without any further complaint and Lucy shook own head slightly, ordering herself to keep it cool and to not faint. It was her own impulsive fault.

Lucy set to work cleaning his hands. She was careful to not rub too hard. His knuckles were scarred and bloody. The skin on his knuckles was completely torn away and dark red patches of scabs already littered his hands. She carefully dabbed the wet cloth to the dried blood not wanting to make it start to bleed again. Natsu was completely still as she worked, he watched her hands but didn't comment on what it was she did or how she should do it. He didn't even wince when she pressed a bit too hard on a scab and she knew it must have hurt when his hand twitched and the scab started to bleed again. He didn't move away though.

When his hands were clean Lucy stood up to clean his face. She changed the water first though and with the warm water she carefully dabbed at his chin and cheek. Those were the safe zones, Lucy thought. His eyebrow was cut too and she had to hold onto his face to get a good angle on the cloth and still be able what she was doing. This had Natsu's face turned towards her chest and he would have the best view in the history of good views of her cleavage. Lucy blushed but kept cleaning.

The cut on his lip wasn't a safe zone either. When she drew the cloth over his lower lip it moved with the cloth in an extremely sensual way. It was as if he'd bitten his lips and released it over and over again with every time she drew the cloth over his lip. She was blushing horribly she knew and when she stole glances at the rest of Natsu's face she saw that he was too. And she saw that in his effort not to watch whatever part of her face he was too embarrassed to watch, he had planted his eyes on her chest again. She also stood close enough to kiss him, closer than she had when she had his scarf around his neck and closer than when they had danced. She held his chin with her left hand and wiped with her right. She could simply move up and draw her finger across his lip. Then she would know for sure if his lips were soft or hard. She could put her hand at the back of his neck and pull him towards her. She could just lean down and kiss him.

She pulled away and bit her lip. Natsu met her eyes then he looked down at her lip. Lucy swallowed hard and looked at his lips. Natsu hesitated and looked away. His leg muscles tensed again.

"You… might want to do your chest on your own." Lucy said slowly and tried not to stare. Even bruised and bloody his perfect body was perfect. In fact, the blood and bruises only made her heart thump in that strange way again. She didn't want it to leave and she bit her lip again. Natsu sighed and even the sight of his chest heaving made Lucy want to shudder.

"You've cleaned me so far, you might as well continue." He said and led out his hands like a scarecrow.

Lucy's heart nearly stopped and her face went bright red again.

"Um… okay…" She said and turned around the change the water again. She heard Natsu groan and the sound of it almost made her gasp. Then there was the distinct sound of a flat surface hitting another flat surface of skin. Had he just been as impulsive as her? Lucy's heart raced and she did her very best to keep her eyes at normal size when she felt them want to bulge and she bit down on her jaw to keep from grinning. When Lucy turned around she saw that Natsu's forehead was distinctly redder with a hand-shaped outline.

Lucy stared at Natsu's bare chest for quite some time. She couldn't believe that he'd actually asked her to clean him. The blood had trickled all the way down to the lower parts of his stomach and even to the line of his pants. What effect would her hands on the lining of his pants have on him. And Lucy suddenly realized what the strain of his legs meant. Ever since she had started cleaning him, when they had first danced together, he was trying to hide a boner from her.

Could her face get any redder? It felt as though it did. But she lifted the wet cloth out of the bowl and hugged out the water with her right hand. She squeezed the rug hard and Natsu's eyes were fast on her hand. Images of Friday night flashed through her was the very last thing she needed. Or rather, the very thing she wanted from him but it wasn't going to help with her level of control.

Slowly she pulled the cloth out of the bowl of water and moved closer to him. His legs were spread and she retook her place only now she had the entire chest to look at and marvel at. His eyes were fast on her hand as it slowly moved closer to the contours of his chest. Water ran down Lucy's arm to her elbow and dripped down onto Natsu's panted leg. He swallowed hard and when his eyes met her's again they were ablaze with fire again. Lucy's breath hitched and she bit her lip. His eyes flashed to her lips and his breath hitched too. His lips parted a little and she felt his breath on her arm. She wanted to shudder and she wanted to kiss him.

Lucy stepped closer and felt the inside of his thighs pressed against her legs. A small smile played on her lips, she was going to touch Natsu's chest. The cloth made contact with Natsu's collarbone and he held his breath. He met her eyes again and Lucy wanted to moan. She felt her self control slip and when his legs pressed against hers she wanted to throw the cloth away and crush her lips to him. Could she do that with everything that had been going on that day? Natsu looked perfectly happy to do the very same.

Slowly Lucy drew the cloth down Natsu chest, a bit of the blood came off along with it but far from enough. Lucy took a deep breath and placed her left hand on his shoulder to hold him still. Sparks flew through Lucy and Natsu's eyes drew shut. A low rumble came from his throat and at that very moment the door to the kitchen sprang open and a freshly cleaned Gray stepped through the door, clad in nothing but his shorts.

Immediately Lucy and Natsu sprang apart. Lucy bumped into the counter behind her and Natsu skidded across the table with such force that he was unable to stop himself and fell over the edge. Gray stared.

"What are you doing." He asked in a rather harsh tone. Lucy dropped the cloth on the counter behind her back and was just about to tell Gray 'Nothing' when Natsu picked himself off the floor rubbing the back of his head.

"She was helping me clean up." He said. Lucy blushed and looked away biting her lip.

"What, she was giving you a sponge bath in my kitchen? Dude, just take a shower." Natsu met Lucy's eyes briefly and blushed.

"Right." He said and left the kitchen. Gray chuckled and watched Natsu leave before he turned to Lucy.

"I would say 'get a room' but, you know." Until he'd barged in, they'd had a room and oh, it could have gone so much further if he hadn't come inside. He walked over to her and leaned against the counter next to Lucy. Lucy nodded and bit her lip. They were silent for quite some time. Through the walls she could hear water running and Lucy assumed that it was Natsu in the shower, naked. She sighed and blushed and took a few deep breaths looking up at the ceiling. She wished she could only be there with him and ran her hands over his body unrestrained.

"So, what are you and Juvia doing for your date?" She asked to force her mind in some other direction.

"She's gonna come over, we're watching a movie." He said and looked towards the clock that hung over the doorframe. "She should be here soon." He added absentmindedly. Lucy smiled.

"Shouldn't you put on some clothes then?" Gray stared down at his chest.

"What's wrong with this?" He said loudly. Lucy laughed.

"You're almost naked!" Lucy said. Gray blushed a little but didn't say anything. They were silent for another few minutes until the door was flung open and Juvia broke through the door.

"Juvia is here!" She announced and to Lucy's surprise Juvia too wore nothing but her underwear. She faltered when she saw Lucy standing next to Gray.

"Lucy." Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" Lucy smiled and held back that loud laughter that she was really feeling like setting free and pushed herself off the counter to leave the kitchen.

"Natsu's in the shower." Lucy said "We'll be out of here as soon as he is done." She went out into the corridor and the door slowly fell shut.

"Why is Natsu here? Gray! What happened?" The door fell closed and the muffled sound of Gray's explanation followed her a way into the corridor. Juvia gave some cooing noise followed by silence, followed by a loud smacking sound. Whatever that was, it was not something Lucy wanted to hear and she hurried out of the corridor. She arrived at the large entrance hall a few moments later. A noise and then sudden silence told Lucy that Natsu was done in the shower. Good, that meant they could get out of there. Lucy's stomach growled. And they could go and eat!

Natsu came down the stairs moments later in just his pants. He was clean except for his the dark bruises that littered his body. At the bottom of the stairs he looked to his right into the sitting room, frowned a bit as if he was remembering something. Then he came to stand in front of Lucy.

"Should we go?" He asked. A loud shout of

"Oh Gray!" Came from the direction of the kitchen. Lucy blushed and nodded. She didn't even wait for Natsu's confirmation, she simply left the house.

Outside with the door safely closed Lucy turned back around and waited for Natsu. He grinned and walked up to her, taking his sweet time. His hands were planted on the back of his head and he looked at peace. The way he carried his arms though made his biceps bulge and Lucy had to swallow hard and force herself not to stare.

"Juvia seems to enjoy herself." He said. Lucy blushed and looked way. "Wonder what they're doing" He added in mock-wonderment. At least, Lucy assumed he wasn't being serious.

"Why would you?" She said and turned to him. Natsu laughed. A sound as free as the drifting wind. Her blush deepened and her heart fluttered. He grinned.

"What.. I hear you got all the dirty details on Levy and Gajeel's night out." He walked ahead of her but turned to walk backwards. His hands still on his head. Lucy swallowed hard.

"That's different! Levy told us on her own. We didn't… wonder… what they might have done." Lucy said and walked after Natsu. His grin changed into a mischievous one and he leaned forward.

"Doesn't that make you imagine it?" Lucy spluttered, stumbled and was caught by Natsu's strong bare arms. It only took a moment to steady herself again and she pulled away embarrassed.

"No" Lucy said defiantly and brushed at invisible dust on her shirt. To her annoyance a blush crept on to her cheeks probably telling Natsu that she had lied. But she hadn't imagined Levy and Gajeel, they were her friends! And if she had, she would never acknowledge it. Not she needed to wonder what any them looked like. Lucy had seen Juvia compete enough times to know what she looked like in a bathing suit and Gray practically pranced around in his underwear on a daily basis. From there it wasn't the biggest leap to their nakedness. Oh goodness. Lucy flushed bright red, she was actually thinking about her friends naked.

"Natsu!" She shouted, hands in fists at her side. He turned to her seemingly unconcerned about the imagine had planted in her mind.

"What." He asked, his face a mask of boredom. Was there a tiny spark in his eyes? Was he messing with her? 'Fine' Lucy thought. 'you want me to picture naked people, I'll just think about you naked!' Naked Natsu. Strong, muscled, naked Natsu. In her mind he had a rather trimmed private area. Did his member really have to be semi-erect in her mind, bobbing as he went, that glint in his eyes, his lips struggling to keep a smirk from spreading over his lips. He knew! Why would she ever think about Natsu naked? When he was there? But the picture was planted firmly in her mind. His legs were firm and steady, full of muscles, his abs perfect as he stood in front of her. His hair slowly drying, springing up into angles of their own accord. His face wore a small smile with that fire in his eyes. The fire danced as free as his trademark grin.

The stumble brought Lucy back to her senses again and before she could catch herself Natsu was there again, steadying her with his arms on hers. The closeness of his bare chest didn't help her embarrassment. She pushed away rather quickly and walked past him to head home. He followed her with a smirk on his face that she only saw when she turned to glance at him. He didn't swagger thought which she was glad for but she wondered why he looked so smug. Had he guessed what she had thought about or was it something completely different. He hadn't seen her glimpse at his lips and crotch had he?

They came to the dorm rooms and Natsu walked with her to the the front door. The night lady was waiting just inside the door and she kept a sharp eye on Natsu through the door's window.

Natsu had somewhere along the line composed his face and he turned to her when she put her hand on the handle ready to pull open the door. He had a glimmer of danger in his eyes again. Lucy's heart tripped over itself. Natsu took a deep breath.

"Look, Lucy." He met her eyes. "I know you're friends with Sting. That's why I went to Gray tonight. I don't want to assume you don't know what you're doing… just… please be careful. There's a reason after all why I haven't beaten him up yet." He said and smile a little. The danger in his eyes seemed to vanish when he smiled and he returned when the smile fell again.

"What reason?" Lucy asked carefully, almost afraid of the answer. Natsu looked away, balling his fists at his side. Lucy thought of the day before when Erza had kept Natsu from beating Sting up. Was it for his own protection rather than Stings? What power could sting possibly have that Natsu couldn't match? He chuckled lightly and Lucy looked up at him. His eyes were still angry and dangerous.

"Erza mostly." He said but didn't go on. This man was full of secret and Erza seemed to be the only one who could stop him from doing something stupid. Lucy could see in his eyes that anger course through him. If the wrong person came across him now, how much damage could he do? He looked ready to wreck an entire town. How much more dangerous did Sting have to be for it to be dangerous to Natsu? Lucy felt a chill run down her spine. Erza knew more about fighting than anyone Lucy knew. If she didn't think that Natsu could take Sting, he had to be even more dangerous than everyone said and Lucy had been walking straight into the den of two rivaling tigers.

Another chill ran down Lucy's spine and she suppressed a shiver. Natsu met Lucy's eye and she knew he'd seen it. He didn't comment on it though. Did he know she was suddenly afraid of both of them? She snatched at straws, desperate to change the subject.

"So!" She said, her voice far more squeaky and high-pitched than she would have liked. "It is true that you challenged Erza to a fight once?" Natsu looked momentarily surprised at the sudden change of subject. Then he laughed and his entire body relaxed into it.

"I will beat her one day" He said. Apparently he had lost that time. He grinned and Lccy couldn't help but smile too.

"Isn't it unfair? She uses swords after all." Lucy said, glad to have Natsu smiling again. He frowned a bit though.

"She can fight without them." He said as if she should have know that. Well, maybe she should have.

"Right." She said and looked away. She should probably head upstairs and get to bed. She took a step back and looked back at Natsu. "Well, good night." She said and hoped it didn't sound as awkward as it had felt. She smiled though and turned to the front door. The lady hurried away from the window and Lucy could see her pretending as if she hadn't just been watching them.

Lucy placed her hand on the door handle again when Natsu's hand touched her upper arm and pulled her around. He looked worried, a frown on his face and his black eyes intense again.

"You're still coming tomorrow right?" He said. Lucy smiled.

"Yea, why wouldn't I?" Natsu's frown vanished and he smiled. He didn't answer though.

"I'll see you then. Good night." He hesitated, then pulled away, waved and headed over to his own dorm room building. That was strange, Lucy thought. Why wouldn't she keep her promise all of the sudden. What did he think had changed her mind? People always said Natsu was such a simple person. If he was so easily understood, how come she was confused so often?

Shaking her head Lucy went upstairs, through the corridor and stopped at her front door. It had quieted down dramatically in the almost three hours she'd been gone and she listened for any sign of Lisanna inside. It was completely silent but carefully Lucy opened the door. It was dark inside. Slowly Lucy stepped inside. Something crunched under her shoes and she looked down. A slip of paper lay on the floor, her shoe left a muddy print on it and she quickly slipped out of them and picked up the paper. She blew away a few balls of dirt that clung to the sheet and read.

"Out with Lyon. See you tomorrow."


	8. Thursday, MMA Crash course

A/N: Hi everyone! Last update of 2014 and tomorrow is a new year. I hope you all have a good celebration and happy times! Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews, yet again. It really means the lot.

But on with the story! And another authors note at the end, see you there! =D

* * *

><p>Thursday<p>

MMA crash course.

When Lucy woke and got up the next morning Lisanna still hadn't come back. It worried her until she considered the fact that Lisanna might have spent the night with Lyon. The boy's dorm rooms wasn't that far away after all and the night ladies should have seen Lisanna walk outside and seen her safely inside on either building. Unless she had lied and gone somewhere else, she should be completely safe. Especially if she was with Lyon. Lucy might not know him particularly well, but Gray did and if Gray trusted him, Lucy did too.

Just to be safe though, Lucy sent Lisanna a message.

To: Lisanna Sent: 07.15

I expect you to tell me of your night's adventures when I find you 3

And with that she headed for class. Thursdays were Ballet, her favourite subject. She'd taken out fresh pairs of pointe shoes and she had to get to class early to prepare them. Not that prof. Evergreen was her favourite teacher, she could be a bit mean and gruff at times but she was probably the most elegant person Lucy knew, even compared to prof. Strauss. It was as if prof. Evergreen could fly, that was how lightly she crossed the floor when she danced.

Most of her classmates were already there when Lucy came to the dancehall. Not Lisanna though. Lisanna didn't like ballet as much as Lucy and wasn't as eager as her to get "her feet in a pinch" as she called it. Lisanna always preferred contemporary or jazz dance.

The dance hall was filled with the sound of something hard hitting the floor. Most of her classmates there were preparing their pointe shoes too, making them softer to work in and securing straps so they could be tied onto their feet. There was a tinge of glue smell in the room and Lucy wrinkled her nose and left the door open when she stepped inside. She greeted Aries and sat down next to her.

"Morning." They both said and Aries stifled a yawn.

"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Lucy asked and smiled. She pulled her bag close and took out her pointe shoes and lost no time staring to get them done. Aries blushed and her hand shook a little making her prick her finger with the needle she was sowing the straps onto her shoe with.

"Even if it hadn't been for Loki, the neighbour had some… company… sorry." She said and Lucy chuckled, 'broke' the sole of the shoe in two and pulled the fabric off a bit.

"Things seem to be going well for the two of you." Lucy said with a smile and measured out four strands of silk and rubber hands. Aries blushed again.

"We're taking it slow. Nothing happened." She said and although she smiled a private smile, Lucy believed her. She got out needle and thread and started sewing the rubber bands onto her shoes.

"Where's Lisanna?" Aries asked after a little while and Lucy looked up from her shoe. "Sorry, you always come to class together." Aries looked down again and Lucy hurried to wipe away whatever expression that had been on her face and answered. Had she frowned? Looked worried? She didn't even know.

"No. It's nothing. I'm sorry. She told me she spend the night at Lyon's." Lucy said. Aries frowned a bit, an expression that was very strange on her sweet face. Today her pink hair was loose and hung in its curls to her shoulders. She wore pink as always. Her skirt was light and soft like Lucy's blue one and she wore a pink jacket. Lucy had tied her hair to her common but to the side and wore white leggings and top with black legwarmers. After a while she saw out of the corner of her eye that Aries looked up and frowned a bit. Lucy raised her eyebrows at her.

"Isn't Lyon Loki's neighbour…? But I thought that he was in love with Juvia?" Aries said and Lucy smiled, it was as if a stone she hadn't known was there had suddenly lifted off her chest. Lisanna had been with Lyon, and they must have had a good time.

"Maybe he gave up. I think Lisanna's at least had his eye on him for quite some time." Lucy said and at that very moment Lisanna walked in through the door to the dance hall, wrinkled her nose and looked around. Lucy reached her hand up and waved, a wide smiled creeping onto her face. "Over here, Lisanna!" She shouted. Lisanna saw them, blushed and ducked her head as she walked over to them.

The close she came the redder her face grew. Her pale green top sat in stark contrast to her red face. Her tights were white and her black legwarmers wrapped up to her knees. She carried her bag over her shoulder and dropped it next to Lucy when she was close enough. Without a word she pulled her own pointe shoes and made to start with the same routine as Lucy and Aries. Lucy was done with her first shoe and moved over to the second one. Lisanna's hands were swift and quick. She was faster at this too just as breakfast. Another routine that took so much more time for Lucy than Lisanna.

Lucy and Aries cast each other a glance and neither could stifle a giggle. Aries covered her mouth with a hand, Lucy just grinned.

"So, Lyon lives next door to Loki." Lucy said and Lisanna blushed deep red again.

"Sorry." She said in a more matter of fact way than an actual apology. She refused to meet either of their gazes though. Lucy only smiled and it felt as if her heart could beat freely for the first time in years. "It was a bit unexpected." Lisanna continued and kept her eyes trained on the task in front of her. Lucy nudged her in the middle.

"So. What happened?" She asked. Lisanna smiled a private smile but didn't look up. Aries nodded eagerly and scooted a bit closer. Lisanna chuckled and glanced at Aries.

"You should already know what happened. You were right next to us." She said with a smile. Her voice was softer than usual and she seemed genuinely happy.

"Yes, we can both guess what happened, but how did it happen?" Lucy said and received a thankful smile from Aries, her cheeks a tinge of red. "I thought Lyon still harboured his thing for Juvia." Lisanna laughed.

"I thought so too. I just went there because I couldn't stand being on my own just then. I was really looking for Elfman or you know, someone I know. I know I said I was going to see Lyon on my note, but a girl can hope, right. I ran into him in the shared sitting area and he was just staring at the vending machine with such gloom that I walked over to him and asked what was up before I knew what I was doing. And he answered without really looking at me too, as if he didn't care anymore.

"'I've given up on Juvia, she will never look at me as long as she's got that arrangement with Gray.' He said and turned to me, his hand still on the vending machine. He didn't at all look like someone who had just given up on the 'love of his life'. Rather, he looked like someone who hadn't gotten laid in quite some time and was sick of doing it on his own. His breathing was a bit too controlled, you know, his eyes were a bit too controlled. I mean, I don't usually cover up but he was doing a good job in not looking and I could see it was getting hard for him… you know.. in both ways.

"He sighed and drew his hands through his hair, messing up his perfectly styled do.

"'I need to get laid Lisanna! Do you know how hard it is to hide a boner in swimming trunks?' He paused as if he expected me to answer. Then. 'It's impossible!' He flung his hand in the air and turned around with another sigh. I was doing everything in my power not to laugh at him. You realize that he just told me that he got boners in swimming class. To me, a kinda random person, it was very random and hilarious. At the same time I saw the opening I've been hoping for for months. I mean, I wanted the guy. I stepped up to him and put my hand on his back. He stiffened.

"'What are you doing.' He asked and I thought, wow, he wasn't kidding. He already sounded ready to hump the life out of something. I drew my hand along his back and holy shit, I shuddered just by feeling the muscles under his shirt. Like every guy in this place, he was well muscled and lean in all the right places and since he's a swimmer, it was even better. I could feel the years of practice through his shirt and I nearly ripped it off his back right then.

"'How long ago did you sleep with someone?' I asked and he turned around. My hand hovered over his chest. His breathing was still controlled but significantly faster than before. He glanced around quickly to check that no one was around and I did the same. Then he shrugged and planted his eyes firmly on mine. His black eyes were searching mine as if looking to confirm if I was making fun of him or not.

"'I don't know... A few months. Probably less than a year.' I nodded and made myself smile.

"'Same here.' I said, although I knew that it'd been exactly 10 months and two weeks, give or take a few days. I barely even remember with whom it was. He raised his eyebrows before a small smile crept over his lips. I pressed my hand against his chest and stepped closer. I felt his breath under my hand. He didn't stiffen this time, instead he relaxed and went all smooth and sexy. His smile was all crooked. Like when he'd won a race. I leaned close, smiling and I was desperate to keep that smile from looking desperate.

"'Do you want to change that?' I whispered and I think he had the funnies expression ever. I could just see that he got turned on by those words alone and at the same time he was shocked and extremely happy and a bit confused. I grinned and a layer of doubt was thrown into the mixture. He leaned close and I could feel his hitched breath on my face. It smelled of mint and was kind cold too.

"'Are you serious?' He asked in a low and husky voice. I bit my lip and nodded. I took him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him in the direction of his dorm. I didn't actually know where it was, but he led the rest of the way until we were safely inside. I don't think that he completely believed me on the way there because when we were in his room and I started unbuttoning his shirt, he grabbed my hands and held them off his chest.

"'You are serious.' He said, wide eyes and mouth open. 'Why?' I looked at him, really looked at him. Slightly ruffled white hair and all. I looked at his lips, felt him shift and he bit his lips.

"'Because.' I said and moved closer, his hands still held mine away from him. 'I've been wanting to do this since I saw you in that competition just after new years.' He frowned at me and shut his mouth. He looked up and seemed to think about it. Then he blushed. 'No strings unless you want them. I need to get laid too you know.'

"It took a while but then he grinned crookedly again, let go of my hands and put his on my hips. My hand immediately went to his shirt again. He pushed me hard into the wall, his face so close I felt his cold breath on my skin again. He pressed his whole body against me when he buried his head in the crook of my neck and kissed the skin there. I made quick work of his shirt and drew my hands across his chest and abs. It was better than I'd imagined btw. He was so cold and fresh to the touch. My skin tingled where he kissed me. Then he pulled away a bit though and looked at me with a grin.

"'Let's see where it takes us.' He said and kissed me on the lips. The rest is pretty much history. Sorry for being so loud. I really needed it." Lisanna finished and at that moment prof. Evergreen stepped in through the doors and everyone fell silent. She looked over the rim of her glasses, her demeaning glare made some of her victims sit still as stone.

"Well, what are you waiting for. I want three rows of bars put up. Start warm-up with pliés and tondues. I'll give you the rest when you're done. Come on, let's go, let's go."

The class started moving. A few of them put away their things, especially those who had been preparing their pointe shoes. Since Lucy was one of them she hurried to tuck away her bag and threw her tools in the outer pocket. Lisanna joined her and they took a spot next to the mirror in the corner of the room where they could see themselves bother from the sides and from the front if they needed to.

"How did it go yesterday?" Lisanna asked in a low tone. Lucy on the pretense of scratching the back of her head turned to her. She met Lisanna's eye and tried to gauge if she was alright. She looked tired but that was about it. And it seemed that her tiredness was to be expected. There was nothing in her eyes that hinted of jealousy or anger at Lucy's obvious closeness with Natsu. After a moment Lucy shrugged.

"Fine. He and Gray were fighting, I stopped them and… helpedNatsucleanupafterwards." She said the last part as quickly as she could and blushed. She hoped that Lisanna hadn't heard but of course, she had. Lucy turned away but Lisanna caught her by the shoulder and spun her back around.

"You helped him clean? What, in the shower?" She said. Too loudly for Lucy's comfort.

"No, no, no. In the kitchen and he had his pants on." Lucy said in a lower whisper and blushed even further. Lisanna grinned. No jealousy there either, was she seriously alright after last night?

"You totally missed the opportunity to get him naked." She said, placed her left hand on the bar next to the mirror and let Lucy go so she could turn around and be ready for the warm up.

"I wasn't trying to get him naked." Lucy said and put her feet together in first position, heals together.

"Why? You like him, don't you.?" Lisanna said leaning close. Lucy smiled.

"Yes." She said and it was probably the first time she had admitted it out loud. She blushed. "That's why." Lisanna didn't answer but leaned back again. Lucy had a feeling that she was smiling too. If it hadn't been for the day before and that cry of anguish that Lucy still could hear in her mind, she would have thought that Lisanna was perfectly okay with everything and that she was genuinely happy. She simply had a hard time believing it. Even if she'd needed to get laid as she said, no one could cry in that much pain and be fine after a night of loud sex. She simply didn't believe it. Then Lucy was wrenched out of her thoughts and out of her frown when prof. Evergreen whistled, snapped her fingered and told them to start. The music started and for the rest of the morning they danced.

Thursdays held no classes other than your sport. So in order to get the most out of the time they had, they had an early lunch after an hour and a half of warmup and two hours of rehearsal. All the routines that they danced were for the annual dancing festival and after lunch they rehearsed for another two to three hours depending on how much work they needed that day. All in all it meant just over four hours on pointe depending on when you felt ready to put them on and at the end of the run, most of their feet were sore.

Prof. Evergreen was strict but competent. Most of the time she glared over the rim of her glasses but when she closed her eyes or danced, she was as elegant as a fairy. This didn't only make her a good teacher it also made her beautiful to watch and in Lucy it brought up the will to be the best dancer she could ever be.

The upside in ballet was that all the moves were named and everyone in class knew them by heart. It was necessary because prof. Evergreen only ever demonstrated small pieces of dance once or twice. This mean that they either needed to be very quick at picking up choreography or be able to remember a short string of words. Since prof. Evergreen always shouted out the named of the moves while they were doing them, it was sometimes easier to just follow what she said. Especially if you were at a bad spot in the room and couldn't actually see her demonstration. Most of the combinations prof. Evergreen used were familiar to Lucy though and once she had heard a combination of moves she could remember them because she had done them so many times before. In fact, some of these steps, she could probably do in her sleep.

So the morning flew by and when they were finally done Lucy, Lisanna and Aries headed to Fairy tail to eat something before continuing with whatever rehearsal they had planned. Lisanna would rehearse with Gray for the assignment. Aries was going to spend time with Loki. Lucy, of course, was going to learn the basics of MMA (she assumed) and the closer the clock crept towards 2 pm, the more nervous she got.

What if she didn't understand what to do? What if she looked like a complete mess. She was a dancer! Looking good while moving was her thing!

She was so worried in fact that she at first didn't realize what Erza and Juvia were talking about when they arrived at fairy tail and their usual table. Levy had put away her books and stared at Erza with a soft blush on her cheeks. Aries stammered something inaudible looking at her feet, hands entwined behind her back. Gajeel stood at the far side of the table but he pointed and nearly shouted.

"It's not about how you do it! It's about why!" Lucy shook her head and tried to get into the conversation.

"Who cares! If it's good it's good, if it's bad, why would you do it again?" Lisanna said.

"Exactly!" Erza said. "If it's bad, you don't want to do it. There need to be at least an equal amount of both!" Juvia sighed and slapped her lap. She frowned and pulled her mouth to the side.

"Juvia is torn." She said. " She would do it with Gray even if she didn't like it so much. But she very much likes it." She blushed and with those words Gray arrived. He was shirtless and greeted the round with a stiff nod. Levy didn't react, she still stared, or was she avoiding Gajeels eyes? Every now and then they bore holes into the back of her neck, it was so intense, Lucy could almost smell burnt hair.

Gray wasn't alone though. Natsu came up behind him with a bowl of food in his hand that he was munching down on. He didn't pay much attention to any of them.

"You were talking about me?" Gray said and half grinned at Juvia. He had heard exactly what they were talking about and it only made him happy it seemed.

Erza was oblivious to Gray's smug face that so clearly said 'I totally made Juvia's night last night.' Or maybe less pleasantly put: 'I totally tapped that last night'. Erza waved her hand dismissively at him.

"Don't flatter yourself. We're talking about whether intent or skill makes someone have sex with someone." She said. Of course, Lucy thought. What else would her friends talk about at Fairy Tail, especially when Erza was around. She enjoyed her dirty subjects.

"Skill of course." Gray said, leant over a chair and grinned, flexing his pecs. Juvia lit up and clapped her hands with a blush. "Why fuck if you're not enjoying it?" Lisanna pointed at Gray.

"My point exactly!" She said" Is anyone even against it?"

"I am" Gajeel said. They looked at Lucy but she just blushed and gave a noncommittal nod/shake of her head. Aries had left without anyone noticing it. Everyone looked at Lucy, she blushed and opened her mouth to give a vague answer. Then.

"I am." It was Natsu. He stepped up next to Gray. He looked bored and still shoved food in his mouth. Somehow he managed to talk clearly. "Why would you do someone for the first time when you don't know how good they are." He said and shoved another forkful of food in his mouth. They were silent for a moment. Lucy agreed silently, then Gray spoke the words she had also been thinking.

"You always know." He said. "I bet my parent's house all of you girls got a very detailed walkthrough of what exactly Gajeel was capable of doing to Levy on Saturday." He looked around. Lucy saw that both Levy and Gajeel blushed and Levy looked as though she wished for nothing more than to have a book to hide behind. Gajeel's jaw locked tight. Was he angry? He should have known. "Girls talk, guys brag. Don't tell me it isn't true." Natsu shook his fork in the air displaying his disagreement. Erza was first though.

"Such things are mostly aren't always true." There was a soft blush on her cheeks. Lucy felt her own cheeks burn too. There were quite a few rumors she'd heard about herself in the past that were so outrageous they were laughable. If everything 'they' said about her was true then she would be a three legged man with wings. Anyone who looked at either her feet or her back knew that it wasn't true.

"You have to want to try it out so there was to be something more." Natsu said and grinned after swallowing. Gray growled and pushed off the chair he had leaned against.

"How would you know. You've only ever slept with one girl." Gray said and stepped over to Natsu. Their group cast glances at Lisanna, even Lucy but hers were the only ones that Lisanna met. A day ago she wouldn't have understood what those looks meant. Now she did and it brought an uncomfortable blush to her cheeks. Natsu dropped the fork back into his bowl.

"And how would you know? Rumors?" Fire ignited in his eyes, daring Gray to go there. Gray was either oblivious or did it anyway. He stepped up close to Natsu.

"I know because you're too dumb to know what to do with a girl if you ever got one." He said.

"I wouldn't come to you for help! You can't even handle a proper relationship with the only girl who actually likes you." Wow, this was a lot more personal than usually. Gray seemed to think too. He'd already drawn back his hand to strike. This time though, Erza was there to intervene.

"You aren't thinking about fighting, are you." She said in a menacting tone. It sent a shiver up Lucy's spine. Normally Natsu and Gray would have slung their arms around each other's necks and sworn that they wouldn't ever do such a thing. This time though, Gray didn't even respond. He simply drew back his fist and directed it straight at Natsu's face.

There was a surrounding gasp at the table at the same time as Natsu lazily dodged Gray's punch and drew back his own fist. Lucy, Erza and Gajeel jumped forward to break up the fight before it started.

"Juvia believes in Gray!" Juvia said who obviously hadn't noticed Natsu's jab at their relationship or didn't care for it. Natsu's first collided with Gray's jaw and his head was flung back. At the same time he threw a wild punch of his own and caught Natsu's cheek. That was when Erza wrenched Gray back by the neck and punched Natsu in the stomach so hard that his eyes rolled back into his head for a moment. Gajeel was there to grab him in case he came to and started to fight again but he didn't care to catch him when he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

Lucy stood next to Erza ready to help wherever needed but there was nothing she could do. Gray seemed to be on a rampage of anger. He yelled several more insults at Natsu who obviously couldn't hear him, but didn't try to get out of Erza's grip. She only held him, seething with anger herself. Lisanna, Juvia and Levy still sat at the table and looked worried. Lucy wondered if stopping their fight the night before had been such a good idea. Maybe they needed a good first fight to stay somewhat civil to each other normally.

Eventually Natsu came to and stood up wobbly. Only for a moment did he use Gajeel's shoulder as a support.

"Damn, Erza. why couldn't you have knocked him out. He's the one who started it." He said with his other hand on his forehead. When he seemed steady enough to stand he took his hand from Gajeel's shoulder and held it to his stomach. Erza only showed him a deadly glare. He grinned his apology. "Okay, okay. I deserved it." Although Lucy hear him mumble 'he deserved it more' under his breath.

"I heard that." Came Erza's menacing voice as she started to drag Gray out of Fairy tail and Natsu grinned again. A soft bruise started to form on his cheek.

Just in time, the large clock over the double doors struck 2 pm and Lucy and Natsu's MMA lesson was to begin. Natsu turned to her and grinned wider. Lucy could only respond weakly. She was nervous again and judging by the pink tinge on Natsu's cheeks, he was too.

"Let's do this." He said enthusiastically and waved for Lucy to come with him. 'Here goes.' Lucy though and followed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lisanna give her a meaningful wink. What had she gotten herself into?

She caught up with Natsu just outside of Fairy tail and the two of them walked silently along the corridor, turned left and then right. There Natsu left Lucy alone in the lady's dressing area (for obvious reasons although he nearly went inside with her.) and told her to go straight through and meet him on the other side.

Lucy changed into a simple black top and a white sweater that only came to her waist and dark blue yoga-pants. She brought her jazz-shoes along in case they would wear shoes. She hoped that they wouldn't though. There were a few girls in the changing room, only one of which Lucy actually recognised. Minerva Orlando and she had never been particularly nice to Lucy.

She hurried through the changing area which was nice and earthy with a lot of wood all around and through the clinically clean tiled showering area where a lone shower was on and a soft voice was singing to herself. At the end of the walkway was a door, another small hallway and another door.

What greeted Lucy on the other side was very different from what she had expected. She had seen Erza fight plenty of times so she thought they would be in an open area with a square rink in the middle. But no. The area she came to was almost cramped and claustrophobic despite its largeness. Lucy could barely see the opposite wall past all the punching bags, weights, mirrors and quite a few of those rinks lined up next to each other. There was also an open area to her right where there was nothing but a mirrored wall and those soft-ish mats Erza'd fought on. In intervals there were gaps between the mats and against the wall by each gap were mittens and square foam things Lucy couldn't even guess what they were used for. Maybe ballance?

There were a few people in the area around her, none of which Lucy could see but she could hear a few grunts and thuds of impacts and here and there a crunch when a weight was put back down on the floor. They even had a built in gym Lucy realized, and a fridge. They could practically live in there. She probably would if she was a fighter.

Lucy stepped over to the open area and the mirrors. Open spaces with mirrors were familiar to her, although, the mats would cancel out nearly all of her jumps and it was so rough, a pirouette would probably hurt her feet. She looked herself in the mirror hoping Natsu would turn up soon and absentmindedly put her hair into her side ponytail.

When she turned to look around for Natsu again she saw a figure moving towards her. Only it wasn't Natsu, it was prof. Clive. His red hair was combed back neatly and his stubble was as unruly as usual. He ever wore his cape, tattered and mystical looking. Who wore a cape now a days, anyway? Prof. Clive did and he wouldn't work if he didn't.

"I don't know you." He said with a small frown but a friendly smile on his lips. "Are you lost?" Lucy shook her head and was just about to answer when someone else spoke.

"She's with me." Of course it was Natsu who came around prof. Clive to stand next to Lucy. He had changed into a black sleeveless top and gray shorts and he wore no shoes. Prof. Clive looked at Natsu from a moment then broke out into a wide grin.

"Crash course time." He said happily and pulled off his cloak. Just like Natsu and his scarf (which he held in his hand) it was a part of him and without it it merely looked strange. What was even stranger to Lucy was that prof. Clive had a sliver prosthetic left arm. She never thought that the master martial artist, fighter of Fiore Academy would be able to fight without both hands. Natsu must have seen her surprise and leaned close.

"Bad break, they had to remove his leg too. Ended his career. Don't be fooled." He whispered and Lucy simply nodded and hoped she would never know who had fought so viciously in a competition. It only showed to how amazing it was that Natsu still was undefeated. Even prof. Clive had lost (at least) one of his fights.

Lucy turned to prof. Clive then since he seemed to want to say a few things. And there he went.

"Natsu's going to give you a crash course in MMA. A crash course means that he's quickly going to go through the different aspects of the sport and teach you the basics in every one of them. If he does it well, it will take about two to three hours. If it goes badly you might just be stuck here all night." He stretched out those last three words and grinned at Natsu who crossed his arms and looked away. Prof. Clive laughed. "I'll be here to see that you don't hurt yourselves and to make sure that Natsu teacher you the right things. It's so easy to forget the importance of basics. This is a lesson for Natsu which I hope he learns tonight but don't worry, I won't be judging you other than to see how Natsu is doing. That is all. Enjoy." He held out his arm as if to tell them that the stage was theirs which in a way, Lucy supposed, it was. Natsu walked to the middle of the mat and Lucy followed him expectantly. He hesitated but met her eyes eventually.

"Let's start with warm-up. Do what I do, you know, like you showed me." It was immediately clear that Natsu wasn't, at all, comfortable in the teaching role and judging by the rather dangerous fire in his eyes, he seemed to rather want to punch someone. Lucy nodded though and followed suit when Natsu set of running around the matted area. They ran for a few minutes, occasionally reaching up with their hands or touching the floor while still running. They threw punches at the air, ran with high knees or kicked their heels back. After that they did sit-ups, push ups and squats. All in all, it was a good warm up.

"Okay. So, MMA stand for Mixed Martial Arts. the biggest parts are striking, clinging and groundwork. Each part has been taken from other martial arts which is where the name comes from. We'll go through the parts in turn.

"Striking is as straightforward as that." Natsu demonstrated by throwing a simple punch, much like they had done in warm-up. "Let's start there." They moved to the middle of the mat, Natsu stood in front of Lucy. His face was hard and concentrated, a slight frown on his forehead. Lucy waited expectantly, her hand clasped in front of her.

"When you punch, it's not just about your hand connecting. If you punch me with just your arm, your hand is going to take more damage than it does. You have to use your whole body. The strenght of your strike comes from your hips, legs and shoulder and less from the arm itself. Do you see the difference?" He stood a shoulder-width apart with his feet, his shoulder straight above them and lifted his arm to punch all he could. He ended up leaning forward at the waist which lost him his balance. Even Lucy could see how easy it would be to kick him in the stomach and have him topple over. Then Natsu shifted his stance, his left leg up front and right leg back, the right foot stood at an angle to the left. Then he punched with his right hand. His right knee pivoted, his heel came up, his shoulder came forward but he kept his upper body upright. Balance-wise, it was brilliant and Lucy knew quite a lot about balance.

Natsu stood in front of her again and when Lucy nodded, he smiled.

"Good. I'll show you a few more and we'll work on them for a while." Lucy nodded again and they set to work.

It seemed that striking was going to be the least of Lucy's problems that day. The stances were simple enough to get comfortable in and punching was more or less choreography, very simple choreography - arm out, hips twist, heel up, back, change leg, repeat, other hand stays at the cheek, hold balance at all times. Simple. Prof. Clive circled them and kept a sharp eye on Natsu but gave no comments so Lucy assumed that Natsu was teaching her well.

A while later Natsu introduced kicks and he added with a smile that she shouldn't find them difficult at all and he was right. What he demonstrated she could hold on to and do pirouettes with.

Shortly after he'd introduced the kicks Natsu brought out those large square black foam things and put them to his side. Then he told her to kick at it as hard as she could. Natsu squatted down and held the foam square to his shoulder. Lucy kicked with all her might and Natsu didn't move an inch.

"Good." He said. "But you've forgotten what I told you in the beginning. A strike doesn't only come from the muscle of the arm or leg. Use your hips, your shoulder and your strike." He walked over to her, dropped the foam and stepped behind her. He put his hands on her hips.

"Lift your knee." He ordered. Lucy did and felt a blush creep on her cheeks. "Now when you go to strike, use your hip." When Lucy turned to strike, Natsu moved her hips with his hands. It made her tip backwards and her leg turn out. But her foot was supposed to stay straight, right?

"No." Natsu said, let go of Lucy's hip and walked around her. The places he had touched thingled. Natsu motioned for her to lift her leg. She did and Natsu grabbed her foot. He held it up to his shoulder. This left Lucy nearly in the splits but she held her balance by seeing it as an assisted leg lift.

"Natsu, be careful with the girl's let. You don't know how flexible she is." Came prof. Clive's voice from somewhere behind Lucy. She met Natsu's eyes and he grinned wickedly.

"I do know." He said, but his voice was far too low for prof. Clive to hear him. He pulled her leg up even higher.

"Hey." Lucy protested and nearly lost her balance. Natsu was there with a hand on her shoulder holding her up. Natsu grinned and Lucy glared until she realized that most of her leg was pressed up against Natsu's hot chest.

"Okay… I guess you do know." Prof. Clive said and Natsu's grin widened. Lucy blushed, her skin aflame and her cheeks burning.

"You could have warned me." Lucy said but couldn't hold a frown in place. Natsu laughed.

"It was more fun that way… Now." He moved away and pulled Lucy's leg with him. He pushed a little and helped Lucy regain her balance. "You want your foot to be parallel to the floor." He turned her foot in the air and for a moment Lucy tried to keep her other leg and foot straight but as soon as she started wobbling and losing her balance, she realized it was impossible. Automatically she tilted her hips and turned her other foot out to where it would stand from the beginning of the stance. Natsu smiled.

"Good." He pulled her leg a little and grabbed her by the ankle. "This is what you want to strike your opponent with." He grabbed the edge of her foot, flexed it and put it to his chest. "It's a hard edge, the opponent won't like it. In any other case you want to strike the opponent with this part of your foot." He grabbed the pads of her toes. "Try and avoid hitting them with this." He put his hand on the upside of her foot. "Just like with your hand, these bones are thin and you'll do more damage to yourself than to the other guy."

Lucy nodded and they moved on. Natsu showed her the different types of kicks and combined them with strikes. Next up was blocking which was pretty straight forward too. Keep the fists at the jaw and block when needed, always return yours fists to your jaw. Simple enough to remember.

"Next up is clingin. Now, in a fight, you're either trying to knock the other guy out or in one way or another make that person unable to continue to fight."

"Without hurting them badly!" prof. Clive interjected loudly.

"Without hurting them badly!" Natsu echoed and rolled his eyes. Lucy wasn't sure if that meant that he thought it was a given or that prof. Clive was putting unnecessary weight on the issue. Lucy hoped that it was the former.

"In the cling, you want to be close to the opponent so they can't hit or kick you anymore or to take them down to grinding. It's basically a middle stage and either you get stuck in a hold, get thrown on the ground or separate. I'll show you a few holds and how to get out of them. And a few throws."

Natsu went through a few basic locks. Armlocks where the arm is incapacitated.

"Since there is a risk of breathing an arm or popping it out of it's sockets, the other guy usually tapps out if he doesn't think he can get out of the hold." Natsu explained and demonstrated an armlock, the traditional one - an arm twisted behind her back, Lucy cringed and rose to her tiptoes.

"If you want me to stop, tap me or the floor and I'll let go." Natsu said but eased up on his grip a little. Then told her what to do to get out of it.

Leglocks, small joint locks (fingers and toes) spinal locks and wrist locks. Natsu explained them all, although they seemed pretty straight forward to Lucy, and demonstrated. Lucy had a distinct feeling that Natsu was holding back though. He always moved a few steps away after showing her a lock and sometimes even tried to explain it without showing her, which made no sense at all. When prof. Clive shouted

"Natsu! Those aren't even the good locks and you wouldn't use one of them if your life depended on it. Show her the real deal." Natsu growled and hesitated before moving close to Lucy again.

"Yea, so usually the locks involve a lot more…" He hesitated again and looked away.

"Body contact is the word you're looking for." Prof. Clive offered and Natsu's face reddened. Lucy suddenly completely understood why Natsu had avoided those holds. His leg muscles were tensing up again. That was going to cause him problems. Natsu mumbled something under his breath that sounded a suspicious lot like 'I can't believe I'm doing this.' Well, Lucy though, she didn't either. She reached out her hand to him and smiled. It almost surprised her when her smile didn't come out stiffly or awkward.

"Let's do this." She said and with a sigh and a nod Natsu took her hand. Before Lucy knew what had happened, she was on her back, Natsu kneeled next to her but had her arm in a lock that made her want to turn into him. Only his weight blocked her from doing so. She was effectively in a lock. She felt her breasts being pushed hard into Natsu's chest. Second's later he was on his feet again, holding out his hands to help her up. Lucy took them and felt herself being pulled to her feet. Natsu scratched the back of his neck.

"I think I'll go through throws first." He said and out of the corner of her eye Lucy saw prof. Clive nod approvingly. "Since most of the locks are done on the floor you'll need to be able to get from standing up to a lock as quickly as possible. Simply pushing someone until they lose their balance isn't enough but that's where we're gonna start. Also… I need you take the sweater off. There's a risk it'll get torn or stuck around your neck." Natsu's face reddened again. Lucy's did too and she wished she had chosen a different top to wear. With a tightlipped nod she pulled off her sweater and revealed a low cut top. Even if her sports bra held her breasts in their comfortable place they were still big enough to show quite the cleavage. Not that it was strange or unusual for her to wear such clothes. The simple fact was that she knew it would make Natsu's crotch situation a lot more difficult. She saw him swallow hard and held her eye for a long time. He took a few deep breaths then moved to her again. His legs were still locked as if he had worked them all day and didn't want them to buckle. Lucy did her best not to look. By the way her heart throbbed in her chest though she could tell that his crotch situation turned her on. Having him close was going to make it difficult for her too.

"Let's kneel." Natsu said when he stood an arms length from her and they did. Then Natsu took her hands and put them on his shoulders and but his on hers. "Now try and break my balance, I'll try and break yours." He said and Lucy nodded.

It was surprisingly hard to throw Natsu off balance. He hadn't seemed that stable when they had danced. Although that had been on one leg. It was pretty obvious that Natsu was meant to have both legs firmly on the ground. The only satisfaction Lucy got from their struggle was that at least he had to struggle to make her sit back or fall forward too. In a strange way this exercise was a lot of fun and Lucy found herself laughing out in sheer joy and not just embarrassment. Once or twice she was able to throw Nastu off balance which made him smile and laugh too. Ah, that smile made the whole situation seem like much less of a burden.

They played at throwing each other off balance standing up too but it was harder since they were able to move around. Essentially though it was the same. When Lucy had gotten a hang of it Natsu told her to 'follow through' with the movement. Whatever she was doing she should keep moving in the same direction until he was on the ground. Natsu demonstrated and made sure to guide her slowly to the floor. He added that she should the same so they didn't hurt each other. From there they went to the actual locks.

"When you've got the other guy on the mat you want to move to a lock as quickly as possible." He explained just having thrown Lucy to the mat her hand still in his. "You usually use the closest lock since the other guy is trying to get out of a submissive stance." He indicated her sprawling on the mat and demonstrated a few locks that he could do with just her hand in his that would effectively keep her from simply wrenching her hand from his grasp. He sat down in front of her and gave Lucy his hand and let her try them out, he explained on each step why it was a lock and where the lock was. Lucy noticed quickly that the wrist locks didn't need all that much strength to maintain. Natsu however was quite adept at getting out of all of them and turning them back on her.

"How do you do that!?" Lucy exclaimed when she for the third time found herself pressed against the floor unable to move her arm.

"Practice." Natsu said and she could hear that he was grinning. "Try to get out of the lock." He moved up so they were sitting on their knees, her back to Natsu's front. Her right arm was pinned between them, one of Natsu's hands held onto her wrist, the other held her elbow. His knees were on each side of her hips also blocking any use of her feet or legs although she doubted she would be able to reach any useful stop to kick despite her flexibility. She remembered then that Natsu had shown her how to get of this particular hold only standing up and she noticed that he put little effort on keeping her upper body in check.

Quickly she leaned to the right and brought up her left shoulder. While Natsu reacted (which felt a lot slower than it should have been) she pushed her elbow onto her wrist and pushed down. Natsu's hold was broken but he moved into her to keep her from escaping completely. She turned into him to the left, pulling her arm out of reach while drawing her elbow along his chest. She could either bring her knee up to his stomach, kick him or elbow him. In her hesitation though, Natsu ducked preemptively to escape any attack and grabbed her leg from under her. Lucy squealed and fell face first to the mat. Not a long fall, sure but it was enough to stun her momentarily.

Natsu wrapped his right leg around her hip and tugged her foot behind his armpit and his arm in the crook of her leg. Before she had come too he had pushed her right leg up to her chest making her roll partially to her back. Lucy blinked and looked up at him. He looked serious for a moment then met her eye and grinned. Lucy tugged at her leg but he held it close and tight. It was her hip that ached though, especially if he rolled forward. The leg that was pushed to her chest prevented her from turning with him. She wiggled her hip to try and relieve the pain but he only tightened his grip. She cringed and flopped back onto the mat.

"Okay, you win." She said and she knew that Natsu grinned again.

"What was that?" He said and did something with his hip that made her unable to move her leg at all. Lucy blinked and tried to wiggle her toes but nothing happened. The sensation was completely foreign to her. So many times had she flexed and pointed her foot that not being able to do so was as if she had suddenly lost a dear friend. That wouldn't stand! And it seemed that although Natsu knew very well how flexible she was he had chosen not to secure her other leg. She twisted, straightened her leg and brought it up under her. She heard Natsu laugh into the mat when she rolled around, her leg under her. He was quick though and apparently knew when a lock was lost and when he needed to move to the next one. He dropped the hold on her completely and able to move Lucy pulled her right leg under her again. She turned and met Natsu reaching out to grab her. Without thinking, Lucy grabbed Natsu's arm, threw herself back and wrapped her left leg around his arm and tugged it under his shoulder. His elbow ended up at her hip and when she pushed her hips up a bit she heard him hiss. For good measure she turned his hand to it faced down, which made him groan. They struggled a little until Lucy realized that his hand was pressed to her chest. As in, her boobs, where her cleavage was, if she wanted she could squeeze a finger of his between her breasts

Oh goodness, he couldn't feel it, could he? But his fingers were too stiff, maybe that was because of her hold. No, his entire hand strained not to touch her chest. Quickly she let go only to feel a tap on her calf. Good, he wanted her to let go anyway. Natsu sat on his knees and smiled at her with a small blush on his cheeks.

"Good." He said. Lucy nearly stuck her tongue out at him.

"Only because you gave me the openings. I doubt you would have left my leg free like that if this had been a real fight." Lucy said. Prof. Clive nodded and Natsu grinned.

"You're right. But would it really be fun if you didn't even have a chance?" He said.

"Try me." Lucy said and grinned. Prof. Clive barked a laugh. Natsu's eyes flashed dangerously and he grinned that trademark grin. Lucy's heart tumbled down a hill and she knew nothing of what happened when Natsu grabbed her by the arm and pulled at it in a very strange way. Most of what she could see was blocked by a leg, the other crossed her chest and had a slight weight on her other arm. She knew her other arm would be useless by the amount of attention it received. The pull Natsu had on her arm already did the trick making her want to roll into him or better yet, have him pull her that way. Only his legs stopped her from doing anything.

Despite her seemingly difficult situation she pulled at her arm, just to see what happened. She couldn't of course, he was too strong. In order for her to move in the direction she wanted she would have to get at least one of his legs off her. Preferably the one over her face, but for some reason she thought that would be harder. Could she reach it with her knee. She tried and only just got the tip of her knee under his thigh. It didn't do much and only slipped out again. She tried again but this time she used her free arm to help lift the leg a little. She managed to get her knee under his leg this way. She scooted close to him. Immediately Natsu pulled her arm closer again and the pain of her shoulder being pulled in a strange way intensified. But with his leg slightly off her she could turn her body to be the same way as him. It put less strain on her shoulder and with all her might she pushed at the leg over her head. It didn't work as she had hoped, it only moved Natsu away from her and her arm was still out of her reach. She tried to crawl under his other leg too but that made it worse for her arm, he was simply too strong. She was just about to tap his leg when he moved into her. Momentarily she was relieved to had her arm free of the pull when it draped over her face was somehow pushed into her. It took a moment for her to realize how she was being held down. For another moment she only knew that she couldn't move, it was as if a sack of potatoes had been dropped on her chest. Then she realized that the sack of potatoes was Natsu.

This hold was much more hand-on … body-on. Natsu's head was just next to hers and he basically hugged her shoulder and head with both of his arms. He straddled her middle and his feet pulled her legs apart. She wiggled but there was no use. She could feel Natsu's breath on her neck, it was hard and controlled, his chest pressed against her with every breath. For a moment he held his breath, a long moment. He was warm and his skin was clammy. Well, she wasn't going to get out of that lock. She couldn't do much of use with her legs, she could barely even knee him. Her shoulders were pinned by his upper body and she didn't dare to move her hips.

She reached up her hand to tap his middle, the closest thing she could reach. But instead of tapping him she simply placed her hand on the side of his chest. Something felt familiar at the tough, like a touch that had been repeated so many times it was second nature, like how she felt when she flexed and pointed her feet. Natsu tensed up at the touch and let out that breath very slowly. Then prof. Clive's voice came from a ways away.

"Natsu! I can see your legs working like there's no tomorrow! If you want that hold to work you've gotta relax!" Natsu growled but didn't let up. Lucy blushed

"Um.. you can let me go now." She said. Natsu tensed all over and repressed a shudder but didn't move. Lucy cleared her throat. "Natsu?" He sprang back and looked at her as if he was surprised to find her there under him. At the same time, he didn't seem to be looking at her at all. Even if his eyes were directed at hers but he didn't see her and he seemed to be somewhere in far off thoughts.

Lucy pushed herself up to lean on her elbows. Since Natsu still sat on her stomach she still couldn't move very far at all and she'd rather not throw him off, that was mean. Then again, this place was made for exactly that, so why not? She tried once but soon realized that her only option to get him off was to use her hips and she didn't want to do that just then. Not with Natsu staring at her as if he was dreaming and she was part of it.

"Hey." She barked eventually and waved her hand in front of Natsu's face. Natsu blinked, shook his head and stepped off her.

"Sorry." He said and scratched the back of his neck. He cleared his throat and looked over to where prof. Clive was talking to another student. He looked their way, nodded and raised his hand to the man he'd been talking to. Then he turned to them and came over. When he was within earshot Natsu turned to Lucy but didn't meet her eyes this time. His eyes were fast on her lips and his legs were tensed so hard he looked to be mid-squat with two people on his shoulders. It was in effect much worse that Lucy knew that him looking at her lips, didn't help his situation at all and yet she couldn't help herself but to bite her lip and look away. She saw Natsu shudder though and he cleared his throat.

"You've got good instincts. You got out of the locks, sort of, even without my help. You could be a great fighter if you wanted it." Lucy blushed but smiled. Natsu turned to prof. Clive. "Those are all the basics, right?" He said.

"Pretty much." Prof. Clive said with a nod. "But you really have got to get a hold of your leg-situation. You're gonna get yourself a cramp. Come on, Natsu, relax." Natsu just scowled and kept his legs locked tight.

"Does this mean the crash course is over?" Natsu asked.

"If you're ever going to teach, you can't go around with your legs like that. Your students are going to get the wrong idea." Prof. Clive said, ignoring Natsu's question. Natsu growled again, his eyes darkening a bit. Anger should help his crotch situation, right? Lucy hoped so.

"Right now. Do you need me to teach or do you need me to relax me legs. I can't do both." He said and they glared at each other for a while. Lucy got to her feet and retrieved her sweater and only when she returned did prof. Clive say

"Oooh!" With raised eyebrows. "By all means, class dismissed, be on your way." He turned to Lucy. "If you ever feel like joining us and fight, you are very welcome." He said and smiled widely. Lucy did too. Natsu left without a word and was gone before she could notice that he had left. When she turned to look for him prof. Clive put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up.

"Take care of him, will you. I've seen him grow up, when I've been around. He's a good kid." He said and his sharp eyes looked at the place where Natsu must have gone. Lucy nodded and looked in the same direction, wondering why he had left, where he had gone and what that look in his eyes had been about.

She bad prof. Clive goodbye and headed to the changing rooms, showered and changed to a blue skirt, black thigh high socks and a white and gold rimmed top. Would she go home? Probably. There was nothing else for her to do, really. Her phone vibrated.

From: Natsu Received 17.36

Thanks for your help. Are you coming to Gray's party tomorrow?

Lucy sent a quick reply.

To: Natsu Sent: 17.36

Thanks for teaching me. Where did you run off to? Probably, if I can make it.

She left Beta and strolled across the courtyard toward the dorm rooms. A few couples walked around but no one paid any attention to her and she didn't recognize most of them. But it was nice outside, a bit chilly but genuinely nice with a soft breeze tousling her hair. Should she go dance? (could her body handle any more work?) She stopped and faced the breeze feeling it drift over her body and she realized then how sore she actually was. Dancing probably wasn't a good idea. She started walking again, her feet tread easily over the lawn and the gravel. She wondered when winter would come this year and if the school planned on heating the corridors at all. And she wondered what Natsu was doing and if he was alright. If he had dealt with his crotch situation yet. She wanted suddenly to see him, to be near him and talk to him. She wanted to feel his warmth on her skin, his breath on her face, his hands on her body. She wanted to hold him and she wanted to be with him.

Another message.

From. Natsu Received 17.41

Home. See you tomorrow.

Lucy nodded and smiled and tucked her phone in her waistband. Only when she looked up she saw Natsu's distinct tuft of pink hair running over to a white haired figure and embraced her. That person looked a suspicious lot like Lisanna.

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><p><strong>AN: I wanted to say that I'm not an MMA fighter so I can't promise the accuracy of this chapter. Although I had friends who helped me out (and wikipedia), most of it is just me having fun while writing. Don't try this at home.**

**Happy New year everyone! =D See you Sunday!**


	9. Friday, A different kind of party

**A/N: Hi everyone! This is officially the last chapter in this story and since it's the last one, it's extra long. I hope you enjoy it! =D **  
><strong>(Inofficially I'm working on a bonus chapter but it won't be up on the usual regular basis.) I'm also, as always, constantly thinking of new things to write so hopefully I'll be up and working on something new soon. <strong>

**Thank you all again for all the support, it means so much, really. **

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><p>Friday<p>

A different kind of party

Friday morning was probably the most awkward Lucy had ever experienced and she was sure it was mostly, it not exclusively by her own doing. Lisanna was groggy as always and half asleep and she probably didn't notice that Lucy was avoiding her eye and gaze like a mad woman. She only ever answered with short and curt sentences and felt extremely, immensely betrayed whenever Lisanna even came close or Natsu's face popped up in her minds eye. Something had gone wrong the day before and Lucy didn't know what. The only thing she knew for certain was that Natsu must have realized something and asked Lisanna about it. But whatever he realized, for all Lucy knew, it could be anything from why the sky was blue to the fact that he still loved Lisanna and it was the second that Lucy was afraid for and the reason she felt so betrayed.

Lucy had already been in bed when Lisanna came home the night before. That hadn't been hard since Lucy confined herself to her room as soon as she got to the apartment. She hadn't cried or broken things. She had stared numbly at the wall, hugging her pillow trying not to wonder what they were doing right at that moment and yet thinking of nothing else.

Luckily, much like Wednesday, Friday mornings were rehearsal time with both professors Strauss and Evergreen. This year they would be working together in creating the annual dance festival and the way prof. Strauss smiled told Lucy that they had something big planned this year.

"Alright, gather 'round everyone." Prof. Evergreen's sharp voice shouted and she and prof. Strauss moved closer to the eager class. All around the room the banging of pointe-shoes stopped and the chatter quieted down.

"We didn't tell you to make those pieces of choreography for nothing. Mira-Jane and I have gone through the routines you performed on Monday and have chosen a few that we want to add to the annual dancing festival."

"All of you who have managed to get someone to train with for Monday." Prof. Strauss jumped in. "We want you to ask your partners to join for the festival. If you think they can do it, teach them one of the routines you performed that we have chosen." Murmur filled the hall as they confirmed that they had in fact heard correctly, until prof. Evergreen stared them into silence.

"In addition to that we have chosen one more routine that we just happened to come across." She said and glared at them.

"Lucy Heartfilia, if you could step forward." Prof Strauss said with a smile. Lucy only stared for a moment unable to comprehend what was being asked. Only when Lisanna pushed her forward did she move. The touch was cold as ice and all Lucy could think about was that those hands had embraced Natsu last night. Did Lisanna know that Lucy had seen them?

She moved forward numbly, the class parted for her, questioning looks on all of their faces. They, like her, didn't understand what was going on. Prof. Strauss greeted her with a large smile and kind eyes.

"I happened to walk by on Saturday because I'd left something in here when I saw Lucy dance something like I've never seen before and I knew then that we just had to add it to the festival." She told the class, her arm was protectively on Lucy's shoulder. Lucy hesitated. What had she seen? She had danced a lot on Saturday.

"We will select three dancers for you to work with depending on how large the groups will become today." Prof. Evergreen said and even smiled a little. Lucy's face drained of colour and bit her lip. She was becoming scared.

"Um… What routine do you mean?" He asked and hoped desperately that her fright didn't show in her face. Prof. Strauss smiled.

"Evergreen well now dance what beauty I saw on Saturday. Charlie, will you turn on the music." A girl near the door nodded and moved towards the stereo while the rest of the class crowded near one of the long walls to give prof. Evergreen the space she might need. She tapped her pointe shoes to the floor, testing the ground and got into position. When the music started and prof. Evergreen started to dance, Lucy's heart fell off a cliff and her breath caught in her throat. She was speechless and torn between being shocked at how accurately prof. Strauss had been able to remember her routine by just seeing it once and heartbroken because it was her dance, her private, dance of her mind and soul. Prof. Evergreen danced it beautifully but it wrenched at Lucy's heart to see a stranger take those steps, move that intimately, with her steps. She wanted to yell at her to stop, to make everyone unsee, she hadn't given them permission to see her innermost dance.

Lucy barely heard that gasps around her, she didn't care that they were awed by her creation, she didn't want them to be. She didn't want them to know. A hand brushed Lucy's shoulder but she didn't really feel it. Words were whispered in her ear but she didn't hear them. She moved back and saw prof. Strauss stand next to her. She wanted to yell at her, demand how she dare take something so private and displaying it without asking her. At the same time a small part of her knew that this was one of the biggest honors they could give her. To have her work displayed on a festival like that. It wasn't something anyone would get to know. Prof. Strauss turned to Lucy with a soft smile. She leaned in close.

"I'm sorry that this was so sudden. We wanted to surprise you." She whispered. Lucy didn't take her eyes off prof. Evergreen. At least she would witness the violation of her dance.

"The music is wrong." Lucy said in an even, almost dead voice. Prof. Strauss nodded.

"Well, the walls are soundproof as you know. We just chose something with the right tempo." She said and smiled. Lucy tried not to cry but felt her heart tare a bit.

"May I?" She nodded towards the open floor when prof. Evergreen was nearing the end of the routine.

"Of course. It's your creating, you can do with it whatever you want." Prof. Strauss said. Lucy nodded and moved through the crowd to the door and her bag. It wasn't as easy going this time. Her class was slower to move out of the way. Lucy tried to ignore the awed stares from her classmates. She tried to push it all away, forget the fact that they were there and just think of her dance, her dance that she would dance because she wanted to, because she loved it as dearly as she had loved her mother. She pushed through the bodies until she reached her bag. Lisanna was there who grabbed her arm to face her but Lucy pulled out of her grip.

"Did you really choreograph that?" Lisanna asked and her voice was shaky but Lucy said nothing, waited for the music to stop then switched CDs, hit play and moved to the middle of the room. Prof. Evergreen looked at Lucy for a moment, seemingly asking what she thought she was doing. When prof. Strauss waved though, prof. Evergreen moved over to her. Then the music started. Haunting string moved the entire room and Lucy started to dance. She didn't care for prof. Evergreen's objections by prof. Strauss' side, she simply danced her heart out. It was her piece, let her share it, let her rip it out of her own body in her own way, despite prof. Evergreen's flawless demonstration.

Lucy didn't really need pointe shoes for the dance and she didn't care for warming up either. She had danced it so many times it was as natural to her as walking or breathing. She didn't have to think about the way she moved or who was watching her but she did and it only made her dance harder.

She had once heard that you could dance too hard. She didn't believe it then and if she had should wouldn't have cared now and danced harder than she ever had. Every move she made, every arm she lifted was exactly the way it was supposed to be and if it tore her body to pieces then so be it, then that was how it was supposed to be. At least it would show them what this piece meant.

Every confusing thought in her mind displayed itself in her mind. Every question that had ever mattered was drawn in the air when her foot soared through the air and her shuddering breath pushed those questions into the onlookers minds. Why was her heart breaking? Why had Natsu embraced Lisanna and not her? Why had prof. Strauss caught her dancing and not someone else? Why was her heart breaking and why did her mother have to die!?"

She knew she was crying in her dance. Her tears were torn from her cheeks in blinding pirouettes. Her body ached to dance harder, to feel more, the coldness in her limbs so suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to move, to be more, to reach further. That pain of her body was nothing compared to the pain of her heart and she added that to her dance too. She released it all into her dance. They had already taken it from her and this was in a way a formal good bye.

One last touch of a lover.

One last embrace of a hot flame ripped from her chest.

One last breath of a mother.

Just one more time, let her be with the ones she loved just one more time! Don't let them leave her again! They were hers! They belonged in her heart but they were ripped from her soul stand by strand until she was truly naked, body and heart. No dance, no lover, no friend and no mother. She was empty and all alone.

Cold surrounded her as her dance took a slow turn. She shivered as she extended her leg. Tears ran icy cold down her cheeks seeming to freeze on her skin. She relished the pain. She needed the pain. If she didn't have the pain. What would she have to remember the love with? It she didn't get to keep the pain, what would she get to keep? Not even the music was hers. That too left her.

Lucy looked up and met her own eyes in the mirror. She hadn't realized that her eyes were closed. She came to stand in seconds and did a few pliés as she always did when she'd danced this piece. Then she remembered that she wasn't actually alone.

Fresh tears spilled out over Lucy's cheeks but she gave no effort to try to hide them. As she looked around her class she saw that most of the class too was in tears, Lisanna and prof. Strays among them. She turned to her teachers, swallowed hard and forced a stoned expression onto her face. If they were set on displaying her heart on stage then she was going to do it her way.

"I don't care much for technique in this piece. Give me those who can express the most emotions and I'll give you what you want." 'you've taken it all from me anyway."

Lucy left the room with those words but she only l came to lean against the wall outside in the empty hall. For once in her life she was glad for the cold there and although she shivered violently, she embraced it. After all, she didn't shiver because of the cold. Wrecking sobs pushed their way through her body. They seemed to combat each other and themselves and in their war Lucy lost control over her legs and vocal cords and sunk to the floor with a cry that could have shattered glass.

No one came to comfort her or to bring her back inside. They left her to cry in peace. Did they think that it was the power of her dance or the result of it being taken away from her. Did they even know the pain of letting go of that piece?

Eventually Lucy came to her feet again, her eyes stung and were puffy for sure. Her cheeks were stiff from her dried tears and her lips tingled. She rubbed her face and scraped at the salt there. She took a few deep breaths, told herself that she would be fine and shook herself to get rid of her shakiness. Was she ready to face her teachers again? Her class? Lisanna?

She was going to have to. She wouldn't break down over something. Over anything. Lisanna had Natsu's heart long before Lucy was even around. Who was she to claim him. He wasn't hers. He could do whatever he wanted.

Another deep breath and Lucy pushed open the door. Everyone turned to her when she came inside. They stood in groups. They were probably being assigned primary routines to work on. The secondary routines would probably be posten on a billboard outside the dance halls. Lucy watched for a moment, trying to figure out which group had yet to be assigned when she saw someone wave and she walked in that direction. In was Lisanna and Lucy swallowed hard against the lump that rose in her throat, threatening to spill fresh tears over her cheeks. She gritted her teeth and reminded herself that Natsu never was hers. Lisanna hadn't taken anything from her. Natsu had chosen Lisanna instead of her. It wasn't Lisanna's fault.

"They chose our choreography, this is our group." Lisanna whispered as more names were called out and people moved to their allotted group. Lucy nodded and looked behind her. Aries was in their group and she smiled apologetically. Even that threatened to spill more tears over Lucy's cheeks. Why did that sweet little girl have to be so kind and caring? She didn't need sympathy right now. She needed to opposite so she could focus and push her emotions away. Lucy took a deep breath and reminded herself of what prof. Ichia had said in one of his focusing classes.

"Nothing but your body matters. Move it with grace! Men!" She would do exactly that. Her emotions didn't matter after all.

Prof. Evergreen went outside with three of the groups, Lucy and Lisanna's included. Lucy went outside last and yet again embraced the chill that brushed over her as she stepped outside. In a strange way it completed her and made it easier not to hate herself, Lisanna or Natsu.

They were ushered into one of the small rehearsal rooms since they were one of the smaller groups and Lisanna wasted no time getting started. They would have to alter the routine a bit to make it work for eight people instead of two. Lisanna said that if anyone had any suggestions, they should simply say so and that they would try and add it (if it worked with the concept of the piece.) She also suggested they all learn the original routine first so they could get a feel for it and that they could improvise from there.

They got going shortly after that and Lucy reluctantly came to Lisanna's side to demonstrate the routine, then they divided the group into two and each taught their part to their group.

All in all they had a productive morning and afternoon. The girls in their group were excited about working on the routine and came with a lot of good ideas. They didn't expect to be done by the end of that day and didn't try to hurry along either. They took their time, danced, improvised, and made suggestions. Lucy even managed to smile a few times. Although it was always tightlipped and strained and most of the time Lucy knew that Lisanna was looking at her worriedly. They had lived together long enough that she probably could read those mood from a mile away. Lucy knew though that as long as they were in other people's company, Lisanna wouldn't ask and she probably knew that Lucy wasn't going to talk either, at least for as long as people were around. So, for as long as she didn't want to talk, she just had to stay in people's company. Great. Company was one of the things she really didn't want.

Lunch was quick and Aries went with them at Lucy's invitation. She knew that Lisanna had given her a stern side-long glance but she hadn't acknowledged it. Aries chatted away about the routine, very unlike her, but Lucy let her talk. She made no attempt to add to the conversation and they were back at the dance hall quick enough that Lucy never was alone with Lisanna. Lisanna must have know by then that Lucy didn't want to talk about whatever it was that upset her. Either way, Lucy decided to push it as far away from her mind as she possibly could and when Lisanna asked her to join her to the restroom Lucy refused saying that she didn't have to go. As if that had ever stopped her before.

Quite a while after lunch prof Strauss came to have a look at their progress. To Lucy's dismay she kept throwing worried glances her way as if she was going to explode at any moment or run out crying again. It didn't matter that she wanted to do exactly that (although mostly because of frustration at that moment). Lucy was determined to stay in control of her feeling. Not even the kind and caring eyes of prof. Strauss would unbalance her.

Lucy knew though, despite her efforts, that she was doing a worse job than ever. Prof. Strauss pulled at her lips a couple of times and Lucy knew that she had misstepped without looking at her teacher's expression. Despite it being her routine, certain things were still expected of her. Prof. Strauss didn't yell at her though. She didn't interrupt them or give advice, she simply watched Lucy in particular. It went on her nerves like someone constantly poking her neck. It wasn't the same feeling that she had felt to often when Natsu had watched her. It was scrutinising and judging. It made her want to work harder even if that day, she was already too exhausted to care.

Natsu. Lucy's thoughts landed on him again and no matter what she tried she couldn't get him out of her mind. Hadn't he said two days ago that, if it wasn't for their good memories, he would hate Lisanna for what she did? How could that have changed so quickly? Or was she overlooking something? Some clue that was essential to make his and Lisanna's embrace completely harmless? Lucy didn't know. Of course, she didn't know. If she did, she would be either perfectly happy, putting her all in this choreography or be able to let it go and let Natsu go. That was what she was trying… without success.

When prof. Straus finally moved out of her stationary observation, Lucy came to stand still and turned to her. Their eyes met and prof. Strauss gave Lucy a long look of sympathy. Lucy shook her head.

"I know I'm doing a bad job. I'm going to take a long walk and get my shit together." She said and turned to grab her things. She avoided Lisanna's worried frown.

"Actually." Prof. Strauss said and Lucy could hear a soft smile in her voice. "I would like to speak with you outside." Lucy didn't look at her but nodded. She still grabbed her things before coming into the hall though, she planned on taking that walk anyway. The door fell shut silently when Lucy stepped out into the hall. It was quiet around but here and there were the distinct sounds of something hitting the floor without bouncing. Namely dancers landing and dancing on. The normally boring white walls felt more familiar then usual to Lucy. They were as constant in her life as anything. She loved it. She loved these walls, cold and insignificant as they were. They at least wouldn't leave her.

"Lucy." Prof. Strauss said and Lucy turned, her eyes met hers and she smiled kindly. "Are you alright?" She asked. Lucy nodded stiffly but didn't manage a smile.

"I'm fine." She said and knew at the same time that she wouldn't convince even the most naiive person in the world. Prof. Smiled again.

"You're a good dancer and a good friend." Prof. Strauss said. Lucy looked away. "I think you could be one of the best." She continued. "But if you don't want it, I will give the opportunity to someone else." She probably hadn't meant for it to sound harsh but Lucy flushed. To her the message was clear. If she didn't clear up her act, she would lose any opportunities to be as good as she wanted to be. Having both prof. Strauss and Evergreen agree that her work was great, was a rare thing as it was and to have them think it good enough to add it to the annual festival was an opportunity that she shouldn't let slip. She only wished they had asked her first or forewarned her, if anything. Was that even it? Lucy wondered. Yes, it was her most private choreography that she only had let one other person see. But it was also the choreography that she was the most proud of. She was honored that they had chosen it, over all the other things they had seen over the years. Maybe it hadn't even been her choreography that she had said good bye to. But if that hadn't been it, what had?

"In your opinion. What is this piece about? What do you feel when you dance it?" Prof. Strauss asked, pulling Lucy out of her thoughts. She didn't hesitate to answer.

"It depends on why I dance it." She said. Prof. Strauss nodded and smiled.

"Why did you dance it today?" She asked. The corner of Lucy's mouth twitched. Was it a smile creeping onto her lips or a simple twitch? The easy answer to prof. Strauss' question would have been a lie. She hadn't danced it because there was anything wrong with the way prof. Evergreen danced it, she had done perfectly. Her answer though, was another simple one.

"I danced because it's my piece. It's me…" She broke off and looked away but saw that prof. Strauss smiled again. "Prof. Evergreen did it perfectly sure but it wasn't the same. It would be as if you tried to give me your best friend. It wouldn't be real." Prof. Strauss' smile widened as if that was exactly the things she wanted to hear. Lucy frowned. "What does this have to do with my lousy dancing today." She asked and prof. Straus laughed with her hand in front of her lips.

"Nothing." She said. "I simply wanted to tell you that if you want you can dance your piece on your own. No need to teach anyone or tell anyone how to dance you or take your best friend unless you want to. It's your routine, you can do with it what you want." Lucy stared and was unsure if a giant weight had been lifted off her chest or not. Yes because she didn't have to share her routine as much as she thought. No because she didn't feel any different at all. Lucy frowned and turned away again. Tears welled up in her eyes and they weren't tears of relief.

"Lucy." Prof. Strauss said again but this time her voice was full of worry. Lucy turned to her and her frown deepened with the effort to keep the tears from falling over her cheeks. "Are you alright?" Lucy nodded stiffly again, lips pressed together in a tight lipped line.

"I'm fine." She said and her voice came out in a high pitched squeak. She didn't want wait for any consolation or reprimand. She simply walked away, nearly ran away from Fiore Academy, away from the faces she knew, away (hopefully) from the betrayal that lingered in her heart.

It took quite a while before Lucy came to the place where she usually met String. She didn't know people on this side of the town and although a lot of them had been to one of the concerts where she had danced, their knowledge of her only went as far as that. They didn't know of the complicated workings between her roommate, the man she was in love with, the man her roommate had destroyed her relationship with and herself. They only knew that they had seen her dance on occasion and some with the keener memories probably knew that she met with a blond gymnast in this part of town. It didn't matter if they remembered or not though. They didn't pay her enough attention and even if they did, Lucy didn't pay them any attention.

There was a canal running through town and she found herself walking along the edge of the canal wall, houses to her left, water to her right. There wa no real risk of falling but she kept her arms out for good measure and because the memory of balancing like that as a child made her at least a little happier.

"You should be careful so you don't fall in." A voice said behind Lucy. She smiled softly although the stranger couldn't see it.

"I'm fine." She said. It was the third time she had said those words and it wasn't even true this time. The stranger chuckled and kept in step with her. That was strange, Lucy thought, people usually just left her alone, was this some sort of perv? Lucy dropped her arms and meant to turn around to tell the guy to buzz off when he came to walk beside her and Lucy saw who it was. She stopped dead.

"Sting!" She said and he grinned. He held out his arms.

"The one and only!" He said and Lucy didn't even hesitate to jump into his arms and hug him so tight she could feel the muscles through his shirt. He chuckled and patted her head. "It's good to see you again." He said and his voice was soft and comforting, clear and confident as if he knew he could carry a mountain on his own.

Sting's closeness felt good to Lucy. In that moment he seemed so problem free, so solid and trustworthy. It seemed that all her friends' warnings had slipped out of her mind. Even those that had come for the ones who hadn't betrayed her. Sting pulled away and held Lucy at arms' length for a moment. He looked her up and down once.

"What's this, workout clothes? Didn't you get my text?" Lucy shook her head and Sting chuckled. "Too busy dancing I assume." He said with a smile. Too busy trying not to cry again, Lucy thought but nodded, it was close enough to the truth anyway. Sting smiled and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"Let's go and get you something to wear then." He said started to walk them forward. Lucy dug in her heels.

"I have a change of clothes with me." She said and shrugged the shoulder carrying her bag. Sting only smiled wider.

"Brilliant! But I'm still buying you a dress for tonight." Lucy hesitated.

"Why?" He was acting strange. He was always confident, sure, but he was closer to her when they walked, his arm held her steadily to his side when he rarely had touched her before. He stroked his thumb in circles over her skin making it tingle. When he turned to her he smiled even wider, more of his teeth showed. Was that a blush on his cheeks?

"Because." He said. "It's my promotion and I want to spend it with my favourite person and give them something nice." Lucy hesitated. Since when was she his favourite person? Her heart twisted a bit. Should she ignore it? Go with it? In her minds eye she saw Natsu running to that figure, her short hair and oh so familiar figure embracing him, holding him close. She even remembered seeing a hand run through his hair. They pulled apart and looked at each other for a while. Did they speak? She didn't know. But they returned to their embrace for a long while. Lucy had left them then but saw a distinct shimmer of white on the girl's head. It was Lisanna and she had lied to her. If they were making a fool out of her, maybe they were lying about other things too. Like whether or not Sting was a good person.

To hell with it! She thought. She was a free woman, if this was a mistake, then it was a mistake she was going to have to make to learn the lesson. Let her be knocked out if that was what it took to learn it.

Lucy made herself smile then and went from being pushed by Sting to walk beside him.

"In that case you gotta buy me some underwear too. If you want me pretty, I'd better be pretty all over." She said and grinned. String laughed, his shoulders shaking in delight.

"It would be my honor." He said laughing and squeezed the arm around her in a warm embrace. In her heart, she knew that something wasn't fully right though. Something bugged her. Beyond her conscious thought, she also knew, on some level that Sting's embrace was far from Natsu's heat and it was Natsu's heat that she really wanted.

So Lucy and Sting went shopping and they had a really good time, better than Lucy would have thought. She even managed to forget about her troubles and that feeling that had stuck in her chest. She tried out outfit after outfit. (Sting didn't buy everything she tried on) and it was the trying on that was the fun part. As she came through the doors of the changing room time and time again Sting told Lucy what had been going on with his life for the past six months that he had been gone.

Two years before Lucy started at Fiore Academy, a prestigious Gymnastics school had requested Sting as an intern with a guaranteed job offer at the end of the year. Since then he had come back every spring to help out with bootcamp and whoever needed the help the first few days in autumn. The master didn't seem to dislike him and among the staff (Lisanna had overheard Mira-Jane) he was said to be good enough to teach and be the best.

During the last six months Sting had worked as a children's trainer. It meant a lot more input since the children lived at the school and only went home for weekends and holidays. They had been around 7 years old which meant they needed extra care and support. They were dedicated though and worked as hard as anyone old enough to compete at a national level.

Lucy found it a bit strange that kids that young would ever leave their parents for a sport. She barely left and she didn't have a proper relationship with her father. She would never have left had her mother still been alive. Not in a milion years.

Since it had gone so well for the children that Sting had taught the school's master put him in charge up an older group of kids - those who were 10-11 years old. They were in their first year of national competition and it was Sting's job to get them ready. Sting himself was quite the accomplished gymnast, only, when his friend Lector had gotten severely wounded in a competition, he lost all interest to compete. He was still ranked as one of the best but straight out refused any invitation to compete in anything.

His refusal to compete had always intrigued Lucy, in a neutral way, of course. Because Sting's favourite thing to do was to make bets of the sort as "I bet I can do this." Or "I bet I can do that under this amount of time." With little or no provocation. It told her that, although Sting had given up on competing, he still harboured a soul-deep need for it. He was probably not even aware of it, it was such an innate part of him. But Lucy was sure that if he would compete in gymnastics again, his need for dares and bets would subside.

It was when they were in their third underwear shop in their quest to find Lucy a complete outfit when Sting said .

"I bet I can find you the perfect set in this store." Lucy shrugged and lifted a hand.

"By all means." She said and he hurried off with a grin on his lips. Lucy sympathised with him even though she didn't know what had happened to Lector and she had never met him. She knew though that Sting and Lector were close. Possibly they had been childhood friends or something. All she knew was that every now and then, String would drop a comment about something to do with Lector and he would have a very sad smile on his lips.

Lucy walked around between the rows of underwear. Some of them were plain, others way too extravagant, some promised the best cleavage ever, others were so sheer in fabric, Lucy feared her breasts would break the fabric if she tried them on.

She moved over to the section where the bras were generally bigger. She usually had to choose one of those since the others weren't available in her size or would fit so poorly that they might as well be three sizes too small. On the other hand, it was difficult to find a pair that she actually liked in that section. Some of them looked just generally boring or so stiff she might as well wear a sports bra. If she wanted anything with any colour she would usually would be out of a big portion of luck. She found a black bra and matching panties that looked pretty cute though and she took her size off the rack and looked around for Sting.

He walked towards her with a large grin on his face and when he stepped in front of her he held out a bra and panties like none Lucy had seen before. They looked like any bra she would find in the "normal" section. The cups were smooth and round looking and although the bands that held the cups together looked to be more robust than "normal" bras it fit the style of it. The best thing about it was that it was bright pink but for a stripe of while along the rim of the cups and upper band on the panties. Lucy's face lit up when she reached out to take the coat hanger from him. It was only in the back of her mind that she registered that the bra and panties had the exact colour of Natsu's hair.

She tried both pairs on. The black one was as expected, it sat well and took a lof of the weight off her shoulders which bra's didn't always do. The set was nice, but nothing special. The set Sting had given her on the other hand was perfect in so many ways. She didn't own anything like it. It sat well and it looked good. The bra hugged her breasts to her body and made them look round and smooth even for her to look at. They were big enough to hold her chest without pinching anywhere and small enough to fit around her middle. The panties sat just as well and didn't cut into her skin making it look like she had more bodyfat than she did.

She could have looked herself in the mirror for hours in the set. Her pale skin shimmered and she struck a few poses in the dark changing room. She almost laughed at herself when she thought that the darkness made it all kinda sexy.

At the back of her mind, aching to reach to her conscious mind was that thought of how much Natsu would like it. But not even her own brown eyes looking back at her in the mirror would reveal the truth to her.

"Can I have a look?" Came Sting's voice and Lucy nearly stumbled over her crossed legs. She dropped her hand from her head and opened both eyes and blinked a few times. It took a moment before she registered his words. Then she made herself laugh but covered up just in case.

"Not a chance." She said and made sure to sound happy. She didn't want Sting to think that she didn't like what he had gotten her, she just didn't want him to see her in it.

"A man's gotta try." He said and Lucy knew that he had shrugged. Lucy wasn't entirely sure what it meant though. Most of all, she wasn't entirely sure he was kidding about wanting to see her or not. She really hoped he was though.

A few moments later Lucy had changed back to her clothes and came out of the changing room with the pink bra and panties in hand. She smiled at Sting.

"You were right. You found the perfect thing." Sting grinned and took the clothes gingerly from her hands.

"I'll go and pay for it then." He said with a rather private smile that made Lucy blush when he turned away. She was suddenly very aware of his eyes, intense and very determinedly on hers. They hadn't wavered once which they had done plenty of times before. Why now all of the sudden, Lucy wondered. And at the same time she wondered if it might just be her own imagination. The story of how Sting had taken Lisanna from Natsu flew through her mind and she wondered if he possibly was trying to charm her. He wasn't bad looking… Lucy shook her head. She wasn't interested in anyone right now. (Except for Natsu, but she didn't let herself know that right then, not even a little).

Next up was the dress. It seemed Sting had something fancy in mind for dinner and dragged her from store to store to try out all kinds of long elegant dresses.

It seemed she tried them all on. Halter-top, heart shaped, with long sleeves, ones she wouldn't even be able to walk through a door with and others that hugged her skin so tightly it left nothing to the imagination. She tried on dresses in all colour imaginable and by the time she had narrowed her list down to two dresses, they'd been in seven different stores and her changing room had been cleared out twice already.

The two dresses were equally as beautiful but very different. One was dark blue with a(n) (extremely) low cut. The bra Sting had bought for her would be completely useless. Added to that the back was low and only just came together at the small of her back. The skirt of the dress moves as water when she walked in the matching shoes provided at the store. She felt like a mermaid in water.

The second dress was mostly white with a band of purple along the middle. It seemed to have about 50 layers for the skirt and still it was light as air. The bust hugged her chest in the new bra comfortably without that nagging need to pull it up, despite its lack of straps and anything else that would really support it. Between the two dresses she didn't for the life of hers know which one to pick. They were both so beautiful.

"I can't decide!" She cried out at last and stepped out of the changing room fully dressed with the two dresses in each hand. Sting looked amused but a bit impatient, his foot tapped and his arms were crossed over his chest.

"Pick the left one." He said after a moment of looking into her eyes. Lucy frowned.

"Your or my left?" She asked and Sting laughed.

"You decide." He said and Lucy sighed. She held out the dresses in front of her. She didn't really need any of them; she almost never went to a fancy enough restaurant and she had quite a few long dresses for a long-dress-occasion. Which one would be best for this occasion? She barely know what the occasion was. (aside from it being to celebrate a promotion.) It would have been one thing if Sting had taken her out for dinner to celebrate, but taking her shopping had to be about something else.

Lucy took another hard looked at the dresses. White or blue? Eventually she decided that the white one looked a bit too innocent and she didn't feel innocent at that moment.

"My left it is." She announced. Sting's arms came apart and he grinned.

"Great! Get changed and we can get eating!" As, so he was in a hurry and not impatient. Lucy smiled and turned back into the changing room. The dress hugged her curves magically and she felt as though she floated on clouds when she stepped over to Sting by the counter near the door. He offered her his arm and she took it even if she didn't really need it.

"So." She said as the door fell shut behind them and Lucy shouldered her bag. It must look a bit funny - her in a fancy dress and high heels carrying a sports bag. "Where are we eating?" She smiled up at Sting who grinned disproportionately widely down at her.

"I found this sweet little cafe, round the corner. I think you'll love it." He said and smiled. Lucy frowned but followed in Sting's wake.

It was only a few minutes walk and when they came to the restaurant Lucy stopped in her steps. It wasn't just a sweet little place around the corner. It was the best restaurant in all of Magnolia. Lucy turned to Sting, ignoring his grin.

"You're kidding me right?" She demanded and his grin widened. Lucy blushed and took a step back. "What kind of promotion has you go from normal to this?" She indicated her get-up with open hands. Last time Lucy had seen Sting he hadn't been a lot better off than her, which was to say making it. She would have had to save months to afford what he had just bought her. Her phone vibrated but she ignored it. Sting cast out an inviting arm towards the entrance and the other up pull her inside. She stepped another step back.

"It's not that I'm not grateful, but it's too much." Lucy said. Her phone vibrated again, another message. Sting rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless.

"Do I need an excuse to give my favourite girl a nice day out after she'd had such a rough day?" He asked. Lucy winced. She wanted to say yes, but that would definitely sound ungrateful. Lucy hesitated, she didn't know what to say. And how did he know that she'd had a rough day? She checked her phone to buy herself some time.

From: Lisanna Received 19.16

Are you coming to Gray's tonight?

Lucy sighed. Lisanna was one of the few people she didn't want to see that evening.

From: Natsu Received 19.19

When are you coming to Gray's? I want to tell you something.

Natsu. What on earth did he have to tell her that she didn't already know? Did she care anymore? No.

"Let's go to a party instead. I know just the place." She said and held out her hand for him to take. Only then did Sting's smile fall. Before he could say anything Lucy moved close to him, gripping his biceps, pushing her chest against him. "Come on." She said in a half whisper. "Let's get wasted." She winked. What the fuck was she getting herself into. She was just about to pull away and say sorry or laugh as if it all was a huge joke. When Sting grinned again and put his clammy fingers on her waist. Lucy had to repress a shudder. It was working. She had successfully used her sexappeal on someone. And suddenly, she didn't feel all that good about it anymore. How disappointing he would be when she friendzoned him harder than anyone ever before.

Slowly Sting took Lucy's hand and allowed her to drag him away towards Gray's. A ball of dread knotted itself in lucy's stomach as they came closer and closer to Natsu and Lisanna. Would they greet her together? Hold hands, kiss to prove to Lucy that they were speaking the truth? Lucy hoped not but she didn't put it past them. Would Lisanna, the girl Lucy had lived with for over a year, the girl whom she'd had in her arms just two days ago crying about how she needed Natsu to move on with Lucy, really do such a thing? Would she be sweet and innocent, like the girl Natsu knew and apparently loved?

The closer they came to the Fullbuster mansion the more anxious Lucy became. Sting must have noticed where they were going. He dropped her hand and put on a very sour expression. At the same time, Lucy noticed a sort of glow in his eyes, it was mixed with glee and anger. Sting knew who would be at the party and he enjoyed the prospect of putting down his enemy again.

Lucy was glad that she was a dancer at this point. She had spent so much time on the balls o f her feet that walking in heels was no problem anymore.

When the Fullbuster mansion came into view Sting draped his arm over Lucy's shoulder. She frowned and shrugged her shoulders but he only chuckled. He was clammy and cold. As much as she had liked his touch before, something was different now. His eyes were fixed on the large doors of the mansion and a mean grin covered his lips. She didn't like that look on his face. He looked dangerous in a bad way. He looked ready to hurt someone and as if he didn't really care who it was.

Dance music from far away filled the air when they came even closer. The people in the houses didn't seem to bothered by it or no one was there to hear it. A little closer and Lucy could hear the shouts of people enjoying themselves. It was closing on 8 pm, people must be getting nice and drunk already.

Lucy's heart rolled down several hills in her chest with every step that she took. She had shaken Sting off her shoulder somehow and he strolled behind her with his hands in his pockets. The grin in his face made Lucy shudder.

The pink head of hair was first to come down the few stairs in front of the mansion. Lucy stopped and felt her heart beat somewhere in the region of the back of her throat. It only got worse when Sting stopped next to her and draped his arm over her shoulders again. She shrugged her shoulders but he kept his arm firmly there. She would have stepped forward or turned to get him off, if it wasn't for her sudden inability to move.

Natsu stopped at the bottom of the stairs and soon he was followed by Lisanna, Lucy's heart fell, Jellal, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel, Gray and Erza. Great, everyone was there to see Lucy's humiliation when her heart was torn into a million pieces.

Lucy saw Erza put her hand on Natsu's shoulder. His hands were balled into fists. Lucy had never seen him so angry. Again she tried to shrug off Sting's arm from her shoulders, without success.

"What is he doing here Lucy?" Gray's voice called. Only then did the absurdity of them all standing there waiting for her wash over her. Lucy stepped sideways then, hoping to get his claminess off her but he grabbed her shoulder and rammed her hard into his side. Natsu shifted forward but Erza held him back. Lucy looked away, so many emotions running through her, she didn't know what to do with them. Sting stepped forward and dragged her with him.

"Oh, this is just too good!" He said, laughed and grinned at Natsu. Lucy looked at him and her heart nearly broke. He was angry at her too. He didn't like her at all. Lisanna had been wrong, or straight out lied.

"What is he doing here, Lucy?" Natsu asked in a forced steady tone. Lucy saw the underlying rage in his eyes. He was angry and he was dangerous. Lisanna too put her hand on his shoulder close to where Erza held a tight grip on him, but he shrugged her off, his eyes flashing with even more anger. That surprised Lucy. Sting moved forward again, dragging Lucy with him.

"I'm here to fuck her senseless, just like I did last Friday. Poor Natsu, so worthless he lost two girls to the same guy…" Lucy wrenched herself out of Sting's grip.

"What did you just say?" She snapped, a bucket of ice seemed to have dropped on her head. Sting ignored her. Sting… It had been Sting?

"You should really give up! Once they see me, they can't resist me!" Sting continued. Lucy grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to face her. Her heart beat in despair, anger and a tinge of elevation mixed with disappointment at herself.

"You… you weren't even here until Tuesday." She said and frowned desperately. Sting laughed and it wasn't a kind laughter. It wasn't at all the Sting that she knew and been friends with.

"Silly girl, you were too drunk to remember." Sting said with a wicked grin at Natsu.

"That's why you didn't text me to say you were in Magnolia again." Lucy said more to herself than Sting. Lucy felt the prickling of Natsu's eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. A second girl he had lost to Sting. She might as well have ripped out his heart and stomped on it. Lucy wasn't usually one to regret a roll in the hey, but this one she did regret. More than anything.

"Aww, don't look so down.." Sting took Lucy's chin in his hands roughly and pulled her to meet his rough and unpleasant lips. Lucy pushed him away with all her might and Sting only laughed. What had happened to the kind man who had helped her find her way her first day in Fiore Academy. He had never been there, was what. "That's not what happened last week." Sting said and chuckled. Did he realize that eight very pissed off people and fight-ready people stood just meters away from him? Lucy wiped her mouth and made to walk over to them, adding a ninth, but Sting grabbed her by the wrist hand held her back.

"Was this was today was about? To get me in bed again?" She said and indicated her dress wanting nothing more than to rip it off her skin. A low growl came from the stairs. It sounded like "It's not true." But Lucy didn't really hear it. Sting laughed again and stepped close. Lucy was unable to escape when his other hand snaked around her back and pulled her close and crushed her to him. One of his legs pressed hard between hers and he leaned close. Nothing Lucy did to push him away helped. He had her trapped in an armlock and her other arm was too busy trying to push him off to think of an escape.

"It's not true!" The growl spoke again. Lucy turned to face her friends. Why weren't they helping her? They were eight against one. He couldn't possibly be that strong. Lazily Sting looked over to them and grinned when Natsu's fists tightened. Sting lowered his head to Lucy's neck. Erza's grip tightened but it seemed to be to restrain herself too. Jellal slowly put his own hand on Erza's shoulder. She didn't shrug it off.

"What isn't true, Natsu." Sting stretched out the words as he leaned close to kiss Lucy's neck, right on one of those many hickies she had gotten a week before, now too pale to really see. Lucy struggled but Sting only pulled her arm upward making her arch her back. He grinned and pushed her closer to him.

"Last week. You didn't sleep with Lucy." Sting chuckled and Lucy felt it reverberate in her own chest. She only wanted him miles away.

"And how would you know." Sting said and planted another kiss on Lucy's neck. Oh, how she wished Natsu was right. She would do anything for it to be true.

"Because." Natsu said and met Lucy's pleading eyes. Lucy's breath caught in her throat by the look in his eyes. He could have looked angry if she didn't know his eyes or the feel of them on her the way she did. He was begging her to believe him and he was saying sorry. "Because it was me."

Silence fell over them for a moment. Then Sting laughed out loud and swirled Lucy around so her back was to his chest. Her arm was pressed uncomfortably between them and Lucy winced and wished she could move higher to relieve the pain in her shoulder. Natsu's words came to her again. What had he said?"

"You? HAh! You make me laugh. How would you know. You were too drunk to even get angry when you saw me on Friday!" Sting shouted. Natsu blushed almost imperceptibly.

"I remembered yesterday." Another apologetic look at Lucy and an angry glare at Sting.

"Prove it!" He demanded and if Lucy wasn't completely wrong, there was an air of desperation in his voice.

"Why should he prove it! He's the one who was there! You prove it!" Lisanna shouted. She looked nearly angried than Natsu. "Name all the hickies!" She demanded with a glint of triumph at Lucy. Sting growled.

"Hickies. I wouldn't defile a body with something so childish. You should know Lisanna. When I fucked you you were practically begging me to…"

"Shut the FUCK up!" Natsu yelled and lurched forward, Erza had to actively restrain him to keep him from lunging at Sting. The only thing that Lucy knew was that she had never had so many hickies than that night. It couldn't have been Sting then.

"Let him go, Erza." Sting shouted and without a second thought cast Lucy aside like a rag doll. She skidded across the asphalt, her dress ripped but otherwise she was unharmed. "It's about time we had this fight, it's long overdue!" Sting added and got into a fighting position while Levy and Juvia helped Lucy to her feet. Erza still held Natsu back but she was loosing the grip on him. Jellal had taken his hand off both of them and seemed to agree with Sting.

"Finally!" Natsu yelled and pulled against Erza's hold on him. "I'm all fired up!"

Lucy's head snapped to Natsu's but she didn't really see those intense eyes, ready to spit fire. She saw him as he had been a week before. He had been smiling and smelling of alcohol. Lucy's head had spun but she had been filled with desire. Her legs were spread and she had the tip of his, Natsu's member just at her entrance, throbbing, yearning to get permission to enter. He had kissed her, hot and softly. His lips were soft and demanding. Then he had put his forehead to hers and whispered those words just before he filled her.

The memory forced a gasp from Lucy and Natsu frowned at her and then his eyes widened.

"You remember!" He shouted and pulled against Erza's grip. "Damn it, let me go!" He yelled but Erza didn't. She frowned in concentration, her eyes were fast on Sting who grinned wickedly again. Lucy got to her feet with Levy's help. The dress was ripped leaving a large slip on one side. She brushed her dress and found her hand stinging and bloody. She didn't wince. She was too confused to wince. Too many thoughts and possibilities ran through her head for anything at all to register. Somewhere along the way she stepped out of her shoes and her tingling feet stepped over the small stones on the asphalt. They at least gave her something to feel.

Slowly Lucy stepped between Sting and Natsu again. Her eyes didn't leave Natsu's once. She lifted a hand and placed it on Sting's chest. A flash of anger and danger crossed Natsu's eyes and Lucy's heart jumped when she saw it. She realized then that he had looked like that a week ago too, when she had turned around to dance while facing him. Dangerous as if he wouldn't be able to control what happened next if he would just release on last restraint. One tiny restraint.

Lucy wasn't entirely sure if it was the shirt she was gripping or Sting's chest itself. She didn't turn to look. Sting moved from side to side a bit, her hand stayed on his chest.

"I know you want me Lucy." He said in an undertone and moved a hand to touch her again. She didn't know how she knew but she did. Her eyes were intense on Natsu but he must have know that she wasn't talking to him when she said

"Don't touch me." with all the venom she could muster. Sting under her hand hesitated and did not. Lucy's heart fluttered and she did everything in her power to keep her emotions from her face. She had to be sure. This was the moment her heart would either break or fly away on a dragon. Either way, she had to be completely sure.

"Natsu." Lucy started, as if she needed any more reason to get his attention. She had every last ounce of it. "I have four questions." She said and saw the slightest nod. Lucy pulled her eyes away from his and found herself immediately wishing that she could look into his black eyes again, pink hair whipping around his face.

"Erza, let him go." Lucy said and her voice didn't sound like her own. The simplicity of her demand only registered on Erza's face with an even angrier expression than before.

"He will only fight if I do…"

"Let him go Erza!" Lucy demanded. She didn't know if it was her voice or expression that did the trick but Erza pulled her hand off Natsu's shoulder. He didn't lurch forward to kick the man behind Lucy, he only straightened and looked at her calmly, if a little angrily at Lucy. She felt Sing inhaling to say something but she dug her fingernails into his flesh and he snapped his jaws shut. Lucy took a shuddering breath.

"First. I saw you and Lisanna yesterday. What was that about?" She asked and her voice trembled more than she wished it had. Natsu frowned and looked as if he hand no idea what she was talking about. Next to him Lisanna rolled her eyes and mouthed 'idiot.'

"She saw our hug probably. He texted me last night needing to see me. He told me he'd remembered that the two of you slept together last Friday. I was so excited, I hugged him. He asked me what to do, that's why we met." Lisanna said. Lucy met Natsu's eyes who nodded. He breathed hard. Lucy hardly cared if it was because of anger and restraint or something else. Lucy nodded and took a deep breath. The second question would determine if her heart would break or not.

"Second. Do you love her?" Lucy said and indicated Lisanna with a nod. Lisanna blushed, Erza objected, Natsu scowled. "Do you love her?" Lucy said again, louder this time and Erza looked as if she could have killed her for it. Natsu held Lucy's gaze, she felt tears well up in her eyes but she pushed them back. "I don't want a 'yes but not in that way answer'. Just plain and simple." She said and her voice trembled again. Natsu bit down on his jaw.

"No." He said. Lisanna's face fell and lit up at the same time. This was the moment Natsu either did or didn't move on. For the first time that day Lucy allowed herself to breathe fully and to long for Natsu's heat again.

She pulled away from Sting, only her fingertips were pressed hard against his chest.

"Third." Lucy blushed as a tear fell out over her cheek leaving a cold trail over her hot skin. "Do you want to do it again." Natsu frowned, this time he didn't' seem to understand anything. Erza laughed, Levy covered her mouth with a hand, Lisanna grinned. Sting made to protest but she only dug her nails in harder.

"What do you mean." Natsu asked and sounded confused. Erza cuffed him over the head.

"Idiot. She's asking if you'd sleep with her again." She said. That dangerous look came over his eyes again, only Lucy knew that it was dangerous in a way that he would never hurt her. The corners of his mouth lifted in a small grin.

"If you wanna." He said and Lucy swallowed hard and nodded.

"What?! You'd sleep with him over me?" Sting protested. Lucy turned to him slowly and glared at him. "He's an idiot!" Lucy let go of the hand that held his chest and put it in front of his face. It immediately cut him off.

"I don't care." Lucy growled and pushed him a few steps away. She turned to Natsu again and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Natsu wanted her after all.

"Last question." Lucy said and her face grew serious again. "Why haven't you beated up Sting before?" She asked. Natsu looked momentarily surprised and he seemed to ignore Sting shout of "Because he's too weak and he knows it." Lucy raised her eyebrows at Natsu, he didn't turn away from her intense gaze.

"Lately, because of you. I know you two are friends." He swallowed and glanced around. He winced at Erza's grin and glowered at Gray's grin. Lisanna put her hand on his shoulder and this time he didn't shrug it off. It seemed that her supporting hand was all the courage he needed. "And I didn't want to hurt you. Beating him up would do that." Lucy smiled tight lipped and nodded.

"He and I aren't friends anymore." Lucy stepped aside and turned around to face Sting. She grabbed her bag and shouldered it.

"Look, I didn't mean anything of what I said tonight. Let's go back and have that dinner…" But Lucy slapped him hard across the cheek.

"Never again." She said and with what she walked away, her leg brushing the air for every time it slipped through the rip in her new dress, her shoes long forgotten. She felt at peace.

* * *

><p>Natsu found her in the dance hall later. She sensed rather than heard or saw saw him come in; that hot prickling at the back of her neck made her heart dance a tango, her breath hitch and a smile creep over her face. Even at the distance his presence was hot and comforting.<p>

The haunting strings of her routine still played and she danced her dance. It was very different from when she had danced it that morning. She smiled and her heart fluttered, her body and skin tingled as he watched her dance, it was soothing like an embrace of a lover.

The music came to an end and this time Lucy's foot came softly to the floor, a still and controlled finish to the piece. She came to second and did a plié. Natsu didn't say a word but when Lucy turned around his eyes were on hers, fierce and intense, hot and dangerous. He had a bruise under his left eye, his hair ruffled and sexy looking and his knuckles were bloody and bruised. Other than that he looked completely unscathed.

"How did you find me?" Lucy asked and pulled at her dress, she hadn't bothered to change, it was a beautiful dress after all and the brush of it against when she danced had been magical. Natsu smiled. He pushed himself off the wall but didn't come to her. He looked at the door for a moment, specifically the window there. There was a small drape and he pulled it closed. It surity with which he pulled that shutter down made Lucy's heart thump dramatically, just like it had done when he had looked at her so dangerously.

"It was an easy guess." He said with a shrug. Lucy smiled.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, indicating his left eye. Natsu shrugged and grinned.

"Erza did the most damage really."

"Erza?"

"Sting insulted Jellal a while in and she went nuts. Gray took him to the hospital before I came here"

"Oh." Was all Lucy said and looked away. He had been a good friend after all, renouncing a friendship was never easy. Lucy drew a hand over her dress, the silky smooth fabric that Sting had gotten her merely hours ago. She turned to Natsu again and saw that he frowned slightly. She stepped over to him but kept her distance a bit. She leaned against the wall next to the door, he stood on the other side of it.

"It's never easy to lose a friend." He said after a while and Lucy nodded with a soft smile.

"It's not much of a friendship of one part is trying to fuck the other to make a third person's life miserable." Lucy said. Natsu grimaced for a moment then hesitated and pushed off the wall and moved to stand in front of Lucy. His eyes were intense, the bruise did nothing to diminish the danger coming from him. Despite it, Lucy felt safe and turned to face him fully, her hands behind her back against the wall.

"Speaking of which…" Natsu hesitated again and swallowed hard. "Did you mean it?" Lucy only looked at him, waiting for him to go on. "What you said before?" She had said a lot of things before but she could guess which one he meant. She smiled.

"Why, you want a rematch?" She said. His eyes flashed dangerously and a grin spread over his lips. Lucy's heart made a summersault and she had to swallow hard. No blush crept onto her cheeks though, she wanted him too. Natsu shifted momentarily then drew closer and put an arm lazily on the wall next to Lucy's head. His breath was on her face, and she could tell by the way he breathed that he was more excited that he looked on the surface.

"I want to at least remember what it's like to kiss you." He said and Lucy licked her lips. He looked at them and his breath stopped for a moment. He met her eyes again. The question was clear and in answer Lucy reached up her hands and put them around the front of his scarf. She pulled softly and his lips came crashing down on hers. Fire seemed to erupt on her lips, sparks danced between them. His kiss was hot, his lips were just the right amount of soft and by the tremble in his arms he seemed to be holding himself back from going too far. A soft moan escaped Lucy's lips when his other hand came to rest on the wall by her head. He was so close, she could feel his heat but it was too far away. She felt herself needing it, needing him close, his body on hers. Her hands let go of his scarf and brushed his chest down to his waist. She felt muscles contract under his shirt and he groaned when she pulled Natsu by waist towards her. The descent was slow and he shook under her hands. Why was he resisting?

He pulled out of the kiss, his body just centimeters away from hers. His eyes were intense when they met hers and her breath caught in her throat. It was as if he was trying to read her thoughts. He swallowed hard.

"I'm not really the one night stand kind of guy." He said a little out of breath. Slowly he moved his right hand and cupped her cheek, drew his thumb along her cheekbone and brushed down to rest on the back and side of her neck. With the tips of his fingers he drew hot circles there. Lucy took a deep breath, his caresses shot shivers down her spine and made her legs want to buckle.

"I'm okay with that." Lucy said and smiled. Natsu still hesitated and Lucy continued, the thought just coming to her. "Is it true about the hickies?" She asked and a grin came to Natsu's lips.

"I like knowing when a girl is mine." He said and looked at her lips again. His entire body seemed to be telling him to move on, to go there and Lucy could see it. But she could also see that he resisted it. Lucy bit her lip and tugged at bit at his waist again. He didn't move.

"I think there's still one of two that haven't gone away completely." Lucy said and Natsu's eyes flashed. Lucy bit her lips and tugged a bit at his waist. He didn't move, his arm shook against the wall. "Does this mean I can be yours?" She almost whispered. A low growl escaped Natsu's lips and his restraint seemed to be wavering. His arms shook again and he leaned closer with his upper body. His breath was on her lips.

"Where?" He asked in a husky whisper that made Lucy close her eyes for a moment while a shiver ran down her spine, lingering hotly between her legs as she imagined his lips on every hickie he had placed on her.

"You should know, you're the one who put them there." She said, a little out of breath. She realized then how hard of a grip she had on his shirt and she didn't let go. She just wanted him to touch her, to kiss her. He was so warm, she wanted him close, she needed it. Natsu chuckled and moved his head slowly to her neck, his breath trailing hot kisses over her skin. Moments later he traced his lips against her, leaving her skin burning and yearning for more. A soft moan slipped out of her mouth. He trailed his lips up and down her skin and Lucy's tuggs as his waist became even more insistent. Natsu though, didn't budge.

"Well," Natsu said and his hot breath brushed against her skin along with his lips. "Can't really see any of them with this dress still on you." He said and Lucy's heart somersaulted. She couldn't keep her hands still. She moved them to his chest and tried to tug there instead. She tried to pull at his scarf, begging with everything she had to move him closer, to press himself against her and let her feel him. But Natsu resisted.

"There's a simple solution to that." She said and slipped her hands under Natsu's shirt. There she wasted little time to feel his body, she wanted him closer, once he was, she could focus on touching every bit of his body. A hot breath escaped Natsu's lips when her hands came to his skin. Only then did she feel the muscles contract under his skin and her breath caught in her throat.

Lucy pushed herself off the wall and stood in front of Natsu. His hands came off the wall but he was still close, she could feel his breath on her face. His eyes were black and intense as always. They were all she could see along with the pink strands of his hair. She bit her lip and saw his eyes flit down to look at them. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment. Lucy stepped close to him, only a few centimeters from pushing against him.

"That's if you want to of course." She said. She wanted to reach up and touch him but she kept her hands behind her back. It made her chest push out a bit further, but Natsu wasn't the kind of guy to look at cleavages much. Lucy bit her lip. Natsu's eyes fluttered down to her lips again and then down to her cleavage. Lucy smiled. He looked and it made her heart hammering in her chest. She crooked her head to the side. "What's stopping you?" She asked. Natsu looked up and into her eyes. Fire seemed to dance there and Lucy strained to keep her hands away from him. If he didn't want her, she didn't want to have to let him go. She couldn't hold her hands behind her back anymore though. They came to her sides, slowly and she brushed against the silky smooth fabric of her dress,her hands tingled at the touch but the fabric was nothing compared to his warm lips. Natsu blinked and shook his head a tiny bit. Then a wide grin spread over his lips. Lucy's breath caught in her throat. She stepped back, hoping she'd catch her breath there but it didn't help. She remembered wondering what it would be like to have his grin mixed with that dangerous fire in his eyes and there it was; her answer. It was exhilarating.

"Nothing."

He moved into her then. He grabbed her by the wrists and slammed them into the wall at either side of her head. Only her knuckles smacked the wall and for a second she was worried that Natsu had punched a hole in the wall. A second later his lips were on hers again, his tongue already demanding entrance to her mouth. Lucy hardly had time to breathe and his hard body pushed the air further out of her lungs. Natsu pushed the length of him against her, pinning her hard to the wall. He felt so good against her, her heart seemed to be a bird fluttering in a cage. His hips fit well with hers and she could feel his growing erection pushing against her hot, already pounding centre. Against her chest Lucy felt his muscles move as he held her to the wall, straining not to hold her too hard. A gasp escaped her lips at the sudden rush of heat through her body. All of her tingled and if she could she would pull Natsu even closer to her. She could hardly believe that he was actually, finally, truly kissing her.

Natsu found her tongue in her gasp and he danced with it. He sucked on her lower lip making her lean forward and further into him. She felt him grin against her lips making her shiver knowing exactly what that grin implied. The grip he had on her wrist was unrelenting and the more he kissed her, the more she wished she could roam her hands over his body. He kissed her as if he had been deprived of that kind of intimacy for lifetimes. And maybe he had. Maybe he was desperately trying not to lose himself in his lust all at once and instead savour every bit of her. And maybe she loved it move that she wanted to admit.

Natsu released her lips and Lucy took a deep breath. She only had time to catch one glance of his black eyes before he buried his face in her neck. Lucy gasped a moan when his lips trailed hot kisses along her skin. She could feel him grin against her and he pressed himself harder into her. His erection throbbed against her, probably rather restricted in his pants. Oh, if only she could get her hands on it, she would make it worth every second he waited, every second he kissed her and every second he shook of the restraint.

She wanted to touch him though. For so long had they danced around each other and now that she could get her hands on him he was keeping her from it. But his arms were locked so rigid that any effort to get out of his grip would have been fruitless. Natsu never stopped kissing, rubbing and sucking her neck. And the strength with which he held her, only made her want to touch him more. She wanted to feel the muscles that restrained her. She wanted to have them hold her and feel her muscles as she strained to hold on to him through shaky hands. She wanted him to push his rough hands over her body and send fire dancing over her skin.

Lucy leaned her head to the side to give Natsu more access to her neck. She felt him grin again and he sucked hard on her skin, just above the place where her pulse thundered like there was no tomorrow. Lucy moaned and nearly sagged against him. He wasn't close enough! Desperate to feel more of him Lucy pulled up her leg and wrapped it around Natsu's hip. The fabric fell away from her leg and left it bare. Natsu paused to look at it for a moment, His breath quickened against Lucy's chest and his hips twitched against hers. Their eyes met again. Fire burned in Natsu's eyes, the breath on her face made Lucy shiver and the part of her body that was pressed against Natsu's hard member only made her want to throw off their clothes and have him inside her. That part wanted Natsu to ignore every ounce of self control and just have his way with her. Fuck her senseless! She would gladly accept him inside her already, she was already dripping she knew and the hot wetness pushed through her underwear.

Natsu pulled her hands upwards and grasped both of her wrists in on hand. She tried to escape but even with one arm, he was stronger than her. His eyes stayed on hers when he moved, his eyes grinned at her even if his lips were red and still. His gaze could have caught her on fire if it was any more intense. With his now free hand he brushed against her hip and down her leg. With little effort he lifted that leg too and wrapped it around his hip. Lucy's breath caught in her throat when he pushed against her and the bulge of his pants fit perfectly. She wondered if he could feel through his pants how wet she was and at that thought he closed his eyes and leaned his head back slightly. He let out a soft groan and pushed his hips harder against her. His groan were enough to coax the moan out of Lucy, his hips and erection so hard against her made her lean her head back too. He felt so good against her, every part of him.

Natsu let his hand travel over the side of her body and feel her curves. He lingered just under her breast where he squeezed her ribs. He looked at her and when their eyes met he bit his lip. He goaned and lowered his head to her neck again. His right hand squeezed her ribs again and his hips rolled. Lucy moaned and pulled him closer with her legs. Natsu groaned again and let his hand travel up the mound that was her breast. His entire body shivered and he pushed himself hard into her. Lucy gasped and moaned and was able to feel every tiny movement he did as his fingers traveled over her braless nipple. Natsu must have noticed her braless state and groaned and squeezed as much of her breast that his hand could reach. His lips were on the move again, kissing the other side of her throat, only her arm was in the way and she couldn't give him much access, however much she wanted. His right hand stayed planted firmly on her breast, softly massaging, making Lucy moan and groan at her inability to move. His kisses trailed down her collarbone sending sparks through her entire body.

"Please let me touch you." Lucy said breathlessly followed by a soft moan and tugged at her arms. Natsu looked up at her and grinned. With that dangerous look in his eyes, looking into them only made her want to touch him even more. Her heart fluttered and beat hard leaving her breathless at that look alone. His free hand left her breast and snaked around her waist to feel her free back, She moaned and leaned her head back.

"No." Natsu said and kissed the top of her cleavage. They were wearing too much clothing! She wanted it all off! Tare the dress off her, she didn't care, burn it right off her back, she wanted it gone. Natsu's had at the small of her back pushed her into him, giving him more access to her body.

"Why?" Lucy said, repressing a moan when his lips trailed kisses over her clothed breasts. He brushed her nibble with his lips and sucked on them through the fabric. Lucy moaned out loud and pressed her core into his bulge. He groaned and sucked hard on a piece of skin at her cleavage. It was going to leave a mark, she knew.

"Because. "He said into her cleavage. "I want to feel all of what I was too drunk to remember last week." He came up to look at her again and kissed her desperately. He pushed her back into the wall again.

When he left her lips burning Lucy threw her head back and moaned loudly.

"I want you, Natsu." She said in only a whisper.

His eyes were hungry on her when she met them again and a small smile played on his lips. For a second his grip slackened on her wrists and Lucy wasted no time digging them into his hair and crushing his lips to hers. He responded immediately by pushing her hard into the wall again, both hands on her breasts, playing with her nipples through the cloth. Lucy moaned into the kiss and demanded entrance to his mouth. He gave it freely and she wrestled with his tongue, both of them looking for dominance.

Lucy's hand traveled down his neck and pulled his scarf so it only hung around his neck. She felt his hot muscles of his shoulder as she drew her hands under the collar of his shirt. It wasn't enough. Her hands traveled to the buttons of his shirt and she fumbled to unbutton them. But Natsu's hands grasped her wrists again and slammed his knuckles into the wall again. Lucy almost cried out in hot need but Natsu's mouth covered hers too perfectly.

It didn't take long before Natsu gathered both of her hands in his again. His free hand didn't return to her breast though. Instead it traveled up her back and fiddled at the clasp at her neck. He grumbled and let go of her hands. Lucy immediately slapped her hands to his chest and unbuttoned his shirt. Skin exposed itself to Lucy and she half pulled at him for every new button that she grasped.

With a flurry in her heart the top of her dress came down leaving her chest exposed to the cold air. Natsu's head withdrew a bit and he met her eye for a moment. Then he looked down and grinned and leaned in to kiss her.

With his eyes steady on her chest Natsu grabbed Lucy by the waist and pulled her off the wall. Her legs came down from around his hips. His hands reached behind her and pulled down the zipper with quick fingers. The dress fell down around her feet. Natsu grinned again and his eyes roamed uncontrolled over her nearly naked body. The only thing that she felt was her desperate want for him to touch her again and the want to have his clothes on the floor too.

Lucy stepped out of her dress and moved her hands under Natsu's shirt. She shivered at his sudden hot skin and pushed herself against him to keep warm. Natsu's hand came to her hips and they traveled up her waist, did a small detour to the small of her back, and came to rest on her breasts again. He squeezed them and caught her stiff nipple between his fingers. Lucy moaned and threw Natsu's shirt off. She buried her face in his neck as he played on her nipple giving her free access to him. Seeing Natsu shirtless had been a turn-on before, touching him was a completely different one and on such a higher level. Muscles contracted under her touch and some of her touches elicited groans in Natsu's throat that reverberated through his entire chest. She drew her hands along his spine and shoulders, holding him to her. She kissed his neck, licked his skin and bit and sucked on it. All the while he messaged her breasts sending jolts of delicious pleasure through her body.

Had Lucy been younger, 16 maybe, this would have been a good place to stop and linger. But Lucy had seen too much of Natsu, been too close for too long to be satisfied there. She left his neck, red in places, and moved down his chiseled chest, sucking, kissing and licking as she went. Her hands weren't still for a moment but moved all over his hot skin. Natsu's hands came off her breasts as he groaned at her kisses.

Down Lucy moved, her knees came to the floor in front of Natsu and her hands traveled over his hips. His eyes flashed when she looked up at him, his pants twiched unmistakenly. Lucy drew her hands over his hips again and stopped at his waistband. Her fingers moved over his hard abs that contracted with every rapid breath he took. One finger trailed inside his pants, just above the rim and a shiver ran through Natsu' body. He held still though and Lucy could feel his eyes on her every move.

With her other hand Lucy opened the top button of Natsu's pants and he almost gasped. A kiss at the rim of his pants made him groan. A kiss on his crotch made him moan, lean his head back and his legs lock tight. Excitement rushed through Lucy suddenly and her fingers prickled. A smile crept over her face. She very much liked having Natsu moaning at what she did. She could see in his eyes that he was just barely controlling himself. What could he do if he crossed that line, and where was that line?

Lucy trailed more kisses down his body. For every button, a kiss where the button had been, right on his black on his shorts. For every kiss she placed Natsu responded with a soft groan and a twitch at the place she'd kissed. She knew she was kissing his member through the shorts.

All buttons were undone and the pants fell to the floor leaving Natsu's erection free to stand as it would. His shorts did little to hold it down. Just as Lucy searched for the waistband of the shorts though, Natsu took her hands away and came to his knees in front of her. He crushed his lips to hers, her wrists in his strong hands. Lucy didn't stay still but despite his grip reached for his body. Not even the wrestling of their tongues could satisfy her, no matter how much she liked it.

Slowly Natsu pushed Lucy back until she was pressed against the floor. Lucy only half registered how cold it was when Natsu's hands came to her breasts again. A sudden gasp escaped her lips followed by a moan at a sharp tug of his fingers on her nipple that sent a hot wave of pleasure through her. He tugged again and Lucy moaned just as loudly. Natsu made himself comfortable with his hips sealed to hers, his hard member pressed longingly against her long since drenched panties. Lucy spread her legs wide for him, gladly accepting him. If only those last, flimsy pieces of clothing were gone too.

Natsu left Lucy's mouth sore when he trailed kisses down her neck, sucked hard on a spot over her collarbone and made his way to the mound of her breasts again. He licked the skin around her nipple, the dark area there and over nipple itself. Lucy moaned every time his tongue flicked over that area and when he gave it a hard suck she arched her back into him. His other hand was there to reach behind her back and lift her up to sit on his legs. The other hand had her other breast in possession and he fondled it with the same precision as his mouth, tongue and lips had done.

Sitting on his lap gave Lucy access to Natsu's hair and back and she held him close and pushed into him and grinded her hips to his every time he sucked on her nipple.

After a while Lucy pushed Natsu by the shoulder and although reluctantly he allowed her to push him onto his back. Their eyes met when Lucy placed herself nearly to straddle his hips. Now it was her turn to touch him.

His hands came to rest on her tights and Lucy leaned forward to kiss him. Her breasts touched his chest, sensitive from his treating. Natsu's hands moved over her body with light strokes of his fingertips. It tickled and sent sparks through her and made her moan against his lips. She traced her tongue against his bottom lip and he parted his lips for her. She met his tongue in a soft greeting, felt it dance around hers and she felt it too tickle delightfully.

Lucy's hands moved across his chest, felt the muscles move under his arms, his stomach, as they contracted when he lifted himself partway off the floor to come close to her. Lucy sucked at his tongue then he did which only made him lift himself further off the floor. She pushed him back down, her tongue exploring his mouth.

Natsu' found Lucy's breasts again and he stroked around his nippled and the sensetive skin. Lucy moaned and buried her face in his neck, kissing and biting the skin there. Every time she bit and nibble at his skin Natsu pulled sharply at her nipple sending a wave of pleasure through her along with a moan. Every time he did she ground her hips into his. Lucy moaned at the longing to have him inside her. The pressure at her entrance made her need only more acute. She wanted him and she wanted him now.

Slowly Lucy trailed kisses down Natsu's chest. Her hands glided over his hairless skin and savoured every ripple of muscle she found, every move he made and every sound that escaped from his lips. He knew what she was about to do and he tensed all over when he looked up to see her trail kisses down his body. His breath quickened even further and when Lucy placed herself between his legs, she could still feel it brush her hair hotly. Her hands roamed over his body and his legs and her lips only left his skin to move from one spot to another. Her own breath was hitched and she couldn't force the smile away from her lips. The excitement of what she was doing made her shiver and moan. She trailed kisses along the rim of his shorts while a finger slipped under the elastics. Lucy heard him breathing harder for every time she her other hands glided over his hips inching ever closer to the centre of his desire. Her kisses trailed along the other side of his hips. She could hardly keep herself from ripping of his pants and devouring him. Slowly… slowly…

Another finger slipped under the elastics of his shorts and with both hands she pulled them off his legs.

Lucy moaned when she saw it, his hard member twitching every now and again. She met Natsu's eyes whose eyes flashed and a crooked grin spread over his face. He was so sexy, laying there all exposed to her. He was Natsu through and through. Lucy moaned again. That look on its own was a massive turn on and that surety in himself made her heart pound in her chest. Lucy bit her lower lip and tightened her resolve to take it slow. She ran her hands over his body again and felt her fingers tingle with warmth.

Lucy lowered her lips to his stomach again and kissed it. Natsu let out a breath and a soft groan and slowly Lucy trailed kisses down him again. This time though she didn't bother sneaking around and teasing, she went straight for it.

First she kissed down the length of his member. His breath seemed to be caught in his throat. Then she traced small licks, oh, she wanted to grip it, take it in her hands, feel him pulsing in her grasp. Slowly. She licked it, he groaned. she licked again, he covered his face with his hands and groaned into them.

"Please…" He said in an undertone. A sound that made Lucy shiver and moan. Another lick from top to bottom. Along the entire shaft. "Please, Lucy." He said when her lips wrapped around the head of his member. Lucy gave it a long suck and swirled her tongue in a circle around it as best she could. Natsu let out a long breath that sounded as if he had waited to release it for hours. It made Lucy smile and her heart jump in her chest, faster than it already was. She wrapped her fingers slowly around the shaft and pulled his member upright, another groan from Natsu and Lucy wrapped her lips properly around the head. Natsu groaned and his member twitched in her hand and mouth. He whispered something into his hands, something that sounded like "Lucy, oh god, please." Slowly, very slowly and while her tongue swirled against him she moved her head and lips down over his length. Natsu moaned and shivered. His abs locked rigid as if he was keeping himself from moving a fraction of a centimeter while his chest heaved.

Lucy's eyes moved further up his body while her mouth glided ever down. She passed her gag-reflex without any problem and held her breath to push him further into her mouth. Her right hand was hard on his tight and she looked up. Their eyes met. Natsu looked to be fully consumed by lust. Lucy wondered if he would be keeping himself in check, if he would hold back. With a flash of desire Lucy knew that he wouldn't.

Natsu sat up and Lucy slipped his member out of her mouth. Their eyes were locked tight, Lucy didn't dare look away, she didn't want to. She wanted those eyes on her forever.

Natsu came so close that Lucy leaned back. His restraint had finally broken. He would not hold back now.

He grabbed her by the back of the head and crashed his lips to her in a desperate kiss. Lucy's breath drew out of her. His member pushed against her slight panties right over her opening. Natsy groaned and Lucy moaned. She wanted him inside her, now more than ever. Her hands found his chest and she felt his rigid muscles. She glided her hands over his shoulder and held him to her as she moved towards the floor.

Natsu pushed her hard against the floor. His member pushed at her and his chest pinned her there. His hands left the back of her head and traveled over her skin. Heat seemed to emanate from him, every part of her that he touched seemed to be on fire, he was so warm. She wanted to wrap her legs around his hips to feel more of that heat but his hands had already found her thighs and was pushing them outwards to spread her legs. Lucy moaned at his hot hands stroking the inside of her thigh. At her moan Natsu rolled his hips and pressed his member harder to her entrance. Her panties strained against the push. She wished she wasn't wearing them.

Natsu's lips left Lucy's and trailed scorching kissed down her body much like she had done to him before. Every now and then he lingered to suck on her skin or to nibble on it. His destination was clear though. Lucy squirmed under him wanting him to get there already, though her in those ways but he too seemed to take his time. Slowly… slowly… he traced the outline of her panties, his left hand brushed over her body, his right had found her hips and slowly tugged at the cloth there. His lips trailed over her panties but steered to the right just before he touched that sensitive stop that throbbed and that she so desperately wanted him to touch.

"I like to know when a girl is mine." His words rang through her mind when his lips found her thigh and he kissed softly. Lucy moaned. He kissed the length of her inner thigh and back down and sucked hard on a spot that could just barely be called her leg. Lucy felt his hot breath spread out over her crotch and she moaned. Her moan sounded a suspicious lot like 'Natsu'. She felt him grin against her skin and he bit the skin he had just sucked on, but gently so.

With a growl Natsu suddenly seized Lucy's panties and in one smooth go he pulled them off her legs. Seconds later he was at the throbbing nub of her desire, kissing it, gently tracing his tongue over it. Lucy's hands flew to his hair and wrapped themselves into those pink strands. She didn't guide him, she didn't have to. His stroked were soft and careful, slowly testing the waters. Lucy only moaned. His right hand was confident around her hips holding her in place. His left hand stroked circles across her stomach.

The strokes of his tongue became increasingly longer moving through her folds to probe and come back up again to flick over that sensitive nub again and make Lucy moan. When his tongue traced all the way to her opening Natsu groaned and his grip on her hip tightened.

"You're so wet." He said into her and the purr of his voice at her opening made her shiver and moan. Slowly, very slowly Natsu traced his tongue around her opening, probing the insides, quaking in his restraint. A finger came to move over her clit and Lucy moaned at the sudden intensity. Her back arched and she pushed herself into him. Natsu's tongue slipped in between her folds. He groaned again and it vibrated through her entire nether region, making her moan again.

Slowly Natsu retracted his tongue from her inside only leaving her longing for more. He looked up at her and met her eyes as he kissed her other leg, leaving another hickie there. He licked his lips almost like a cat does after it's eaten. Slowly he moved down to her clit again, relieving the finger that had been flicking relentlessly. Lucy didn't really know what he did but the second his tongue came to her clit her back arched and she moaned loudly. Natsu pushed close with one arm, almost lifting her from the floor. The other hand trailed down between her folds, traced her opening with a finger, slipped smoothly between her folds and buried itself as deep as it would go. Lucy moaned and ran her own hands over her body, not knowing what to do with them. Inside her Natsu's finger crooked repeatedly and his tongue never stopped flicking, never stopped surrounding that sensitive nub and with every crook of his finger and every flick of his tongue a ball of tightness and pleasure formed and built at the lower belly.

Her hands found her breasts, so sensitive from Natsu's treatment that she gasped. She was about to move on when Natsu met her eye. His head came up with a long lick of her clit. Lucy's eyes fluttered with a moan but she kept her eyes open.

"Touch your breasts." Natsu said and his breath hitched when she did. He licked his lips, added a second finger to her insides. Lucy moaned and traced a finger around the sensitive nub of her nipple. Natsu groaned, his eyes flashed and he buried himself between her legs again. This time though everything felt ten times more intense. Whatever Natsu did had her moaning unable to control her legs. when he sucked at her clit she cried out in pleasure. His finger moved in and out of her, crooking at some sweet spot every time they were deep inside her.

The ball of explosion waiting to happen tightened even harder at the pit of her stomach and his handling of her felt more intense which every time she arched her back and pushed against him. His free hand came up to her body. The sudden shift of heat made Lucy moan again. She knew she was close to a release. Oh, she wanted it so bad. Her back arched at a particular wave of pleasure but Natsu's hand was there to push her back to the floor. Lucy moaned and pushed against his hand. It snaked up between her breasts and pushed. The heat of his hand only made the pall of pleasure knot itself tighter. Meanwhile his hand moved relentlessly in and out of her and his tongue, oh, his tongue was performing miracles over her clit.

She arched her back again. She was so close. Then Natsu sucked on her clit and it was the last push she needed. Lucy moaned as pleasure coursed through her body from the spot like a hot wave over steaming coals. This time Natsu couldn't push her back to the floor. Or maybe he let her arch her back. She didn't really care which. The only thing that mattered was his presence. His heat close to her. It was all she ever wanted.

Natsu lifted himself off her and brought his hand to his face. He took a deep breath and closed his he sucked her juices off his fingers. When their eyes met again, Lucy licked her lips and pushed herself up to lean on her elbows. Her breath was hitched and her heart hammered in her chest.

"Can we fuck now?" She asked and subconsciously spread her legs even further. Natsu quivered but grinned and crawled close to her. She met him halfway in a scorching kiss. She could taste herself on his lips and parted her lips when he begged for entrance.

Natsu pushed her onto her back he she felt his member settle at her entrance. Both of them moaned and Lucy threw her head back at the sheer prospect of having him inside her. Natsu. That pink haired man with the black intense eyes, at last. He hovered above her, his eyes on hers. With every breath they took their chests pushed together and Lucy's eyes fluttered every time his skin rubbed against her raw nipples.

Lucy reached up to his face. She touched his cheek softly, and felt him lean into her touch. She drew her fingers along his temple and her other thumb brushed his lips. His lips parted a bit and they moved with her finger. Then he moved into her. Lucy cried out at the exquisite feeling that washed through her. He felt so good! Her back arched and she pushed herself into him with another moan. Natsu groaned and wrapped his arm around her middle, almost lifting her off the floor. He twitched inside her making her moan again. Lucy wrapped arms and legs around Nastu. She wanted him even closer, as close as she could get. Slowly Natsu pulled out of her, a husky breath brushed her ear making her shiver another moan. He pushed inside hard and Lucy moaned loudly. It was soo good to have him inside her.

She rolled them over a moment later so she straddled his hips. Natsu looked up at her but Lucy's eyes were closed when she settled on him. He reached deeper his way and it felt good to be on top. Here she could grind herself into Natsu in a way that had her pushed over the edge again in no time. And when she moved her hips she heard Natsu's head hit the floor with a groan. His hands found her thighs and his fingers drew circles on them while she moved her hips, moaning and groaning when the need came to her. Natsu found her breasts again after his hands had traveled over her hips and waist. It felt good to have his hands there. They felt good on her and they heightened the sensation that moved through her, coiling at her lower tummy, adding to build for another release.

Natsu gave little time to rest after her second orgasm but spun them around to be on top again. He wasted no time, pushing inside hard and steady, groaning every time he could go no further. His thrusts were so demanding, they added to Lucy's release building it up all over again. She wanted more! She never wanted it to stop! She spread her legs wide to give him access. He wrapped her knee over his shoulder and never relented in his thrusts.

Lucy's hands curled to fists, her back arched and she panted at the sheer pleasure that ran through her. Natsu hit so many sweet spots that Lucy didn't know what to do with herself. She met his thrusts with equal vigour and their bodies clashed together in repeated slaps of sweaty skin on sweaty skin.

Just as another wave of pleasure was about to rush over Lucy Natsu stopped, buried deep inside her and leaned close to her. Her eyes were wide open but she was too out of breath to tell him to keep going. His breath brushed over her face and his eyes were ablaze. Her leg was pushed hard against her breast but she didn't try to move it away. A soft smirk scurried over Natsu's lips and he licked them slowly. Lucy's breath caught in her throat. His member twitched inside her making a moan escape her lips. The smirk ghosted over his lips again.

"I'm all fired up, Lucy." He said and grinned. Lucy's eyes fluttered shut with a loud moan. Those words alone were enough to push her over the edge.

Lucy brought her hands up to cover her face. With Natsu moving in her again, she didn't know what to do with them. But before she could do so Natsu grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the floor. She met Natsu's eyes briefly. They closed for a moment and leaned against the leg over his shoulder. Lucy added her second leg to his other shoulder and immediately felt another sweet spot get its round of attention. But that wasn't enough Natsu apparently though. She wasn't enough of a mess with her loud moans and pants. He brought her wrists together just over her head and held them with one hand. The other traveled down her body, lingering a little over her left breast, traveled further down to her soaked nether region. His finger mover over her clit again and Lucy moaned louder than she had before and spread her legs over his shoulders. Natsu grinned and quickened his pace both in thrusts and finger. Lucy moaned uncontrollably and slammed her fists into the floor when holding them over her face wasn't enough. It was amazing, it was blissful, it was the best sex she'd had in a long time. (If not ever)

Lucy was quick in cuming and her inner walls didn't let go of Natsu when the wave of pleasure had rolled over her. She held on to him and his eyes were closed as she pushed into her, his free hand clasped onto her leg, holding her steady.

When Lucy rolled her hips to meet his it didn't seem to take long before Natsu grabbed her leg right and thrust even harder into her. Within five thrusts Lucy came again and Natsu did too only a few moments after Lucy. He brought himself into Lucy one more time, moaned her name, released her legs and settled on top of her.

He kissed her neck softly sending shivers through her and rolled off her after a moment. At her side he draped his arm over Lucy's middle. She could sleep like that, Lucy thought. With Natsu close, it seemed that all her worries never existed.

* * *

><p>Some time later Natsu and Lucy got dressed and left the dancehall hand in hand. The only evidence of their coupling would be the sweaty shape of two people on the floor and that would be gone by morning. The upside of being an athlete, Lucy noted, was that she always carried a towel in her bag. She would have to wash that towel now.<p>

Walking through the corridor took its sweet time as time and time again either Lucy or Natsu pushed the other against the wall to ravage their lips or bodies again. Neither of them cared where their hands roamed, if on an innocent area or not, who at Fiore Academy was in school now anyway. They started all over again in the corridor with laughter and moans being their only company. They were in no hurry to go anywhere anyway.

Outside in the moonlit path between training areas and the dorm rooms Natsu slung his arm across Lucy's shoulder and held her to him. He grinned the entire way they went and Lucy's heart wouldn't stop fluttering in her chest. Natsu was with her, she could hardly believe it. Every few steps she wanted to pinch herself just in case, just to be sure that he wouldn't just vanish into thin air and she would end up on Monday morning again. But Natsu stayed with her the entire way to the dark side of the dorm room building, there they stopped. It was far enough away from the front door that, if the night lady was out for a smoke, she wouldn't hear them. Natsu turned to Lucy, his eyes were still shimmering with lust. Her breath hitched at the sight and her cheeks burned. She couldn't remember when someone had ever looked at her with such desire. He pushed her against the wall and kissed her so desperately it ignited her want for him all over again. She grabbed his scarf to hold him close. The after sex smell of him was intoxicating.

"Stay the night with me?" She asked breathlessly when they broke apart. Natsu grinned and touched his forehead to hers.

"I thought you'd never ask." He said and released her from his grasp. He gave her a small kiss and grinned again. "See you upstairs." He said and hurried her to the corner of the building. Lucy didn't need any more encouragement but almost ran until she was within sight of the night lady. The lady gave her a scrutinizing look and Lucy had to force herself to sound normal and not as flustered as she felt when she said good night. She took the stairs three at a time when she ran up. She barely noticed how quiet the corridor was when she hurried through to get to her apartment. Almost everyone was at Gray's party and those who weren't were probably out of town. When she flung open the door she came face to face with Lisanna, ready to leave the apartment.

"Lisanna." Lucy exclaimed and looked behind her. Natsu wasn't there yet. She hadn't even thought to how he would be sneaking into her dorm room. Lisanna looked suspiciously at her, scrutinizing her much like the night lady had done. Lucy cleared her throat and straightened her shirt. "Where are you going?" She asked, still looking behind Lisanna.

"Lyon asked me out. Where have you been?" Lisanna said. Lucy smiled. Before she could answer a voice spoke from the window.

"Since when are you dating Lyon?" Lisanna spun around. Lucy stepped into the apartment and saw Natsu climbing in through the window, looking at Lisanna with a frown. Lisanna frowned in confusion for a moment and her eyes flickered from Lucy's blush to Natsu's ruffled hair and half unbuttoned shirt. Then her eyebrows raised and she grinned.

"Can't be dating a guy I haven't been on a date with yet, don't you think?" She turned to Lucy and her grin widened "It seems you owe me some money." She looked genuinely happy and Lucy couldn't help but smile too. She walked over to the window where Natsu perched and he climbed inside. Lucy closed the window behind him.

"Lisanna." Natsu said and she looked up from zipping up her jacket. She raised her eyebrows. "Are you okay?" He asked. Lisanna smiled wider than Lucy had ever seen her do. There was no sadness in her eyes.

"Better now that Lucy's home." She said and turned to the door.

"Lisanna." Lucy called and she turned back again. Lucy took Natsu's hand. "How did you know?" Lisanna grinned and tapped her neck.

"Hickies… both times." She said and left the apartment. Moments later Lucy received a text.

From: Lisanna Received 22.16

Thank you 3

Natsu wrapped his arms around Lucy from behind and kissed her neck.

"I was promised a bed." He whispered in her ear. Lucy laughed and turned to him. She bit her lips and held out her hands to him. He smiled and Lucy's heart skipped a beat.

"Come on then."


	10. Bonus Chapter, Master Dragneel

**I'm back!**

**Hi everyone! Here is the bonus chapter that I promised. I hope you enjoy it.  
>If anyone wonders why it took such time to get this out, (I didn't even think it would take this long) It's because I'm incapable of writing two stories at once. It had surprisingly little do to with the fact that my university courses started again although, I suppose they have some part of it. This also means that I'm working on a new story WOO! Another Fairy Tail fan fiction. It takes a bit of a darker turn and I'll share it when I know that I'll be able to get the whole thing out as I did with the main story of dancing with the dragon.<br>In the meantime, thank you all for reading, for favoring, for following. Thanks for all of the feedback, I hope you've enjoyed reading it. **

**Now! Bonus Chapter!**

**Oh! And it's Natsu's point of view! **

**=)**

* * *

><p>Saturday – Master Dragneel<p>

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled and yanked the blanket off the arm of the sofa. "Where's the lube?" He flopped the blanket on the floor and stuck his hands in the cracks between the cushions and groped around. Nope, not there either. He stood back up.

"What do you need the lube for?" Lucy yelled from her room where she had been getting dressed. Just the thought of her putting that short skirt of hers over her jucie hips reinforced his want to find that godforsaken lube. He drew his hands through his pink hair and sighed. He'd already searched the bathroom and it wasn't there. He growled and stepped into Lucy's room. She had just pulled her top over her head and was smoothing it down over her waist. Damn, where was the lube when he needed it.

Lucy turned to him, her hands in her hair pulling it off her shoulders into a bun. Their eyes met for a moment before her breath hitched and her eyes roamed over his shirtless body. A smirk spread over Natsu's lips. He loved the way she looked at him, how her body simply reacted to his, probably without her even knowing half the time. She wore a black skirt, white stockings covered her legs to her mid thigh leaving a delicious sliver of skin exposed just under her skirt. At the sight of it Natsu gulped hard and forced his legs into tight knots of muscle. The rest of her was no less remarkable. Although she wore a simple top, it still made him want to plunge his face into her cleavage and let it cradle him for eternity. With her hair off her shoulders her neck was left exposed and with it his hickey of pride planted over her steadily beating pulse.

When Natsu met her eyes again he saw that her hands were placed on her hips in defiance and his smirk that had rested on his lips widened.

"What do you need the lube for? You have a fight in two hours." She said with a smile and Natsu saw her eyes glide over his chest again. He walked close to her slowly and grinned when she shivered. His eyes must look dangerous like he knew they did when he was turned on. Lucy backed up and soon the wall at the end of the room blocked her path. Natsu followed her and at the wall he placed either arm on the side of her head. Lucy bit her lip, a gesture that Natsu absolutely loved. She looked at his lips and Natsu leaned in close, his breath would be on her lips, something he knew would drive her crazy. Immediately her eyes fluttered and her breath hitched.

"I still can't get the way you looked last night out of my head." Natsu said, closed his eyes and licked his lips. Last night Lucy had dressed up in sexy pink lingerie. She had ridden Natsu as though there was no tomorrow and oh, she had felt so good, and that lingerie looked perfect on the floor. A grin spread over Natsu face again as he felt pants tighten as his member hardened. "I want you so bad." Lucy was the sexiest woman he had ever seen and if he couldn't have her now, he was afraid he might screw up the fight, badly, with a boner. He noticed how his pants were getting increasingly uncomfortable.

A chill ran up Natsu's spine when he felt Lucy's cool hand on his cheek. When he opened his eyes again he saw that Lucy was smiling. Her smile made her lips look like strawberry pudding and it made him so hungry he wanted to devour them. He met her eyes again and his breath hitched. There was mischief in her eyes and when she leaned in close with her hand on his shoulder, her chest pushed against his. He wanted her so badly.

"I'm not wearing any underwear." She whispered in Natsu's ear and he felt his control waver like a light trying to break through fog. He clutched at it like holding onto a rope of sanity. She licked his earlobe and Natsu balled his hands into fists. He needed just to hold on and he might just get out of those incredibly uncomfortable pants. Lucy slipped his earlobe into her sweet hot mouth and sucked on it. A groan escaped Natsu's lips and he pushed Lucy further into the wall. She let out a breath that brushed his ear and that sent a shiver down his spine.

"I'm also pretty sure you won't need the lube." She whispered. Natsu groaned and buried his face in her neck, kissed and sucked at her tender skin. Another mark would own her neck just under her ear.

Lucy took one of his hands in hers. It made him shiver. Her softness was almost unbelievable. Slowly Lucy guided Natsu's hand down her body and made sure to brush her breast, the curve of her waist and hips until she guided his hand under her skirt. There his fingers moved on his own and he could feel that they indeed wouldn't need the lube, she was already drenched, dripping, soaking wet. All of it for him. Lucy breathed a soft moan in his ear that he responded to with a groan of his own.

Lucy grabbed the hem of his boxers and tugged but it only resulted in his hips moving into her, pushing his hand harder against her. Lucy gasped and tugged at his pants again. There was no use. Those were his fighting pants, they had to able to resist a bit of tugging or he would end up pant-less half way through the fight. When Lucy tugged a third time Natsu slipped a finger inside her and he pushed as far in as he could reach. Lucy moaned and Natsu groaned at the warm wet feeling that surrounded his finger. He wanted more of it.

When Lucy tugged at his shorts again Natsu pulled his other hand from the wall and undid the button that held the shorts so tightly to his hips. They fell free along with his boxers and immediately Lucy grabbed Natsu's erect, hot, longing member and pulled him closer. Natsu followed willingly, wanting nothing more than to feel her insides even more intensely. As she pulled Natsu trailed kissed up the side of her neck, making her let out soft moans for every breath she took. The sound of her drove him crazy. When he finally found her lips she moaned into them and she pushed his hand away from under her so she could position his member at her entrance instead.

She even tasted of strawberries and a bit of vanilla. Natsu groaned, he could have her lips locked to her for eternity and never crave another taste again.

Lucy wrapped a leg around his hips and Natsu grabbed the other and threw it over his shoulder - a position they had found not too long ago that always worked wonders for both of them. The tip of Natsu's member hovered over Lucy's entrance. Her juices spilled out over him, coating him in her sweet aroma. He could feel her pushing with her leg at his hip, urging him to move inside her but he held still, savouring the feeling of her longing heat, of her inner muscles trying to pull him inside.

"Damn it Natsu! Fuck me already." Lucy moaned. "Please." His legs nearly buckled, he crushed his lips to hers and pushed her harder against the wall.

God she felt so good. Lucy moaned as he pushed inside her and her walls were tight against his member. Lucy snaked her arm around his head and pulled it down to meet her chest. He buried his face in her cleavage while pushed himself deep in her where he knew he would hit all the stops that she particularly liked.

Lucy moaned loud as he settled deep inside her and pulled at his hair. How he loved hearing those sounds of her ecstasy. He could fuck her all the time only to hear those moans, those gasps when he grabbed her wrists and punched the wall. He knew by now that she wouldn't be hurt by it. He loved everything about her; those cries of absolute pleasure when he pumped inside her, rubbing her clit the way she liked it, kissing her neck, devouring her lips, leaving them swollen and yearning for more. He loved how her hair tangled as she writhed against the wall and how her eyes rolled back into her skull when she came and clamped down on his member making it all feel even more exquisite. How her lips let out the most delicious sounds of her release. He loved how her pleasure made him feel so good.

By the way Natsu thrust inside Lucy it was going to be a quickie. He wouldn't have minded if they'd kept at it for another hour or two, but prof. Clive would surely come and drag him ass out of there if he didn't show up at the judges in a little while. Natsu barely even cared when.

When Natsu felt himself spill everything he had into Lucy he pushed deep inside her and pulled her off the wall to lay her down her bed. She clamped hard around him to hold him in and it made him groan. Lucy kissed the top of his head which made Natsu smile and hold her close to him. Her breath was still hitched and he could feel it on his forehead as he carried her, with her legs strung around his hips. He carried her to the bed, lay her down and leaned in to kiss her. Lucy held his head close to hers as he kissed her. He loved her lips, they were so soft and comforting, sweet and enveloping and they tasted so damn good. Those lips could spew the sexiest profanity that Natsu had ever heard and they could speak soft words of tender love that made his heart sing.

"You know we can hear you, right?" It was Lisanna speaking from her room next to Lucy's. Lucy stiffened and blushed. She was so cute when she blushed. Natsu grinned and leaned down to kiss her nose.

"And we heard all of you and Lyon this morning. Consider it payback." Natsu said loudly and grabbed some paper. Lucy slapped his stomach with a pout and Natsu grinned and handed her some paper too, she didn't really manage to keep the pout in place but laughed silently. There was a glint of mischief in Lucy's eyes and Natsu had to grin wider. He leaned down to kiss her again and Lucy, biting her lip, clenched her inside walls around Natsu's member which hadn't lost its erection completely. The feel of her holding onto him like that almost made him hard all over again. God he wanted to fuck her senseless. He leaned in close.

"We don't have time." Natsu said and saw the shiver run through Lucy. She clenched her inner walls again biting her lower lip and Natsu groaned.

"I can still hear you." Lisanna yelled.

"Oh shut it." Natsu groaned and pulled out of Lucy. She groaned too and pushed the wad of paper against her lady parts. Natsu stood, dried off and fished up his shorts and underwear. He searched for a moment for Lucy's panties too until he remembered that she hadn't worn any. The thought of it almost made him hard all over again... again. He shook himself and rubbed his face hard with his knuckles.

When he felt Lucy's hand on his shoulder he looked at her and she smiled. Her hands were at her hips pulling up her underwear. When she stilled he looked into her dark brown eyes. He could lose himself in them. Then she leaned in and kissed his cheek with her hand on the other side of his face. His eyes closed while her lips were on him. He couldn't help it. He loved the feel of her close to him. When she moved away he felt almost empty. He wanted to step in and envelop her in his arms and keep her there forever. There he knew she would be safe and warm and close to him. The sight of her new hickey made him smile though and his smile hid a tinge of pride. Lucy was his and he was hers. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"Come on." Lucy said and took him by the hand. "You've got a competition to get to."

Oh, right, the competition. Who was it against again? Did it matter? Not really. He'd kick their ass either way.

Lucy led him out of her room to the living room where Lisanna sat in Lyon's lap and played with his hair. Lyon had his hand on Lisanna's hip. Natsu smiled and put his arm around Lucy's shoulder and pulled her close. Things had turned out alright and he was happy. Lisanna seemed to be happy with Lyon and they had been together for nearly as long as he and Lucy. That was good. It could have gotten strange if Lisanna hadn't gotten with Lyon and moved on. Then again, maybe it would have been fine, Natsu though. The relationship he had with Lisanna now a days was more closely related to what she had with her siblings than anything else. And now that Sting was completely out of the picture he didn't feel the past nagging at him either. He was happy and the people around him seemed happy too, that alone made him even happier.

"You've hung out too much with Gray, Natsu. Put on some clothes." Lisanna said but he saw her wink at Lucy. Natsu scowled at Lisanna but inwardly grinned. He knew that look well, the two girls had planned something and that something had something to do with him.

Damn that thought was too close to the sex he'd just had. Damn, I'm such a pervert, he thought. Don't you dare think of a threesome with Lucy and Lisanna. Not even a little! He screamed at himself. That was not something he wanted to get a boner to. Lisanna was not going to get him into bed again and he didn't need anyone else to satisfy his crotchly needs. Not that he never wondered what it would be like to have two girl all over him begging their turn… His crotch twitched and he locked his legs tight. Damn it brain! These people knew what the locked legs meant, it couldn't hide his boner as well as he used to. Damn, damn, damn, damn. Think of the fight, he told himself. Who was he fighting again? He had a match coming up against this dude Cobra whose slogan was 'I can hear you move' Lame. The fight with Rogue had gone well even if it left him with a throbbing lip for two weeks.

Then Natsu stiffened, his legs slackened, the boner he'd tried to hide fell as if he'd gotten a kick in the balls. His face drained of colour and he shook, just a tiny bit.

Today wasn't just a fight where he'd win and keep going undefeated. Today was the day he potentially became a master, MMA fighter, officially.

Erza had done the 'exam' last year, just after the Winter Festival before New Years after which she left school to study sword art with some old dude in some far off country. She had fought Gildarts and won her masters title and that was the very thing Natsu was attempting this day – to win his masters title. The fight he had in less than two hours was against prof. Clive himself.

How could he have forgotten? Well, that wasn't all that strange, he rarely cared who he fought only that he got to fight. How could he have forgotten about fighting _Gildarts,_ was beyond him.

Lisanna grinned and it pulled Natsu out of his thoughts again.

"Welcome back to reality pervert." She said and Lucy giggled. Natsu rolled his eyes. No, the sex wasn't the reason he'd forgotten about Clive. It was probably part of the reason, but not all of it. Natsu scowled. He wanted to cross his arms but Lucy was in the way. She pressed against him and he shivered again. He growled.

"It's not my fault my girlfriend it incredibly sexy." Lisanna raised her eyebrows. "You were the one who set us up." Lucy laughed, Lyon raised his eyebrows in half a cringe.

"I did not. You two slept together all on your own." Lisanna said.

"We kinda did, Natsu." Lucy said next to him. Natsu felt her breath brush his arm followed by a soft kiss.

"I heard you though. That first Friday. You said you'd set us up." Natsu said and Lisanna frowned.

"I did?" Natsu nodded and pulled his arm from around Lucy to cross his arms over his chest. Lucy put her hand on his arm. His skin tingled where she touched him.

"She didn't though. She was drunk and blacked out way before you and I even danced." Lucy said. Natsu shrugged. Then he grinned and wrapped his arm around Lucy again. Her other arm came snaking around his waist and she hugged him right.

"You should be getting to your competition though." Lucy said and tapped him on the chest. Natsu gulped and felt his grin stiffen and falter. Right, his competition to become a master, against Gildarts. Holy shit, a violent shiver ran through him. Lucy squeezed his middle again and Natsu felt himself become steadier at her touch. He looked down at her and she smiled.

"You can do this." She said in a slow and soft voice and squeezed his middle again. Natsu gulped and nodded and felt excitement course through him. His heart fluttered and he knew his eyes shimmered in a way that always excited Lucy. It only made him grin even wider.

"Let's do this. I'm all fired up." He said and his voice came out huskily. Next to him Lucy shivered and took a deep breath and her chest pushed into his side. Grinning Natsu licked his lips. When he was done he would have all of what Lucy had to give him.

They left Lucy and Lisanna's apartment and headed for the competition halls. The night-lady scowled at them. He wasn't supposed to be in the girl's dormitory but he had snuck into Lucy's apartment regularly and never bothered to sneak back out again. The night-lady could stop him from coming inside at night but there was nothing she could do from him parading himself on the way out.

Prof. Clive was notified once but when he'd confronted Natsu about it, he'd simply put his hand on Natsu shoulder, grinned and said "you learned my lessons well." That was a few months ago and Natsu still had no idea what lesson Clive had been talking about. The Night-lady still glared but she hadn't tried to get a teacher to tell him that he had no business in the girl's dorm building since then.

Campus was relatively empty still. His challenge of Gildarts was placed on a Saturday because of the raucous Principle Dreyar feared it would cause in class. Erza's move up in rank a few months before had been enough of a spectacle and people knew that she would be able to take it. Natsu on the other hand, people weren't so sure about. Sure, he was undefeated, but, as Lucy had put it, he was goofy and easy going and people were unsure if he was actually taking it seriously. Erza was hard working and determined. People would have been surprised if she'd lost. People were surprised she hadn't tried for her master's title earlier. Lisanna had put it less delicately and said that he was an idiot and people wanted to know if he'd won because of luck or if he was actually skilled at his craft. If he became an official master, people would know for sure that he was good at what he was doing.

Natsu didn't need to doubt himself of course, he knew how good he was, at the same time, he wanted just a little bit of acknowledgement. If nothing else then at least he got to fight prof. Clive for real in a non-teaching environment and that in itself was going to be a worthy experience.

In the competition hall Erza greeted them by the entrance. Since prof. Clive was going to be his opponent Natsu had asked Erza to give him some pointers and she'd taken it upon herself to be his coach. Since she'd already gotten her master's title, she knew how it was done.

"Natsu, you're late." Erza said and released her arms from under her chest. "Let's go. You still have to warm up and register with the judges." She smiled a tiny smile at Lucy and Natsu turned to her. She smiled and winked. That wink could make his knees tremble. Without hesitating he took her face in his hands and crushed his lips to hers. He kissed her desperately knowing that if things went as they usually did in a fight, he wouldn't enjoy a proper kiss of a few days. Lucy kissed him back just a vigorously as he kissed her and if it hadn't been for Erza, Lisanna and Lyon watching them, he would have considered pushing her against the wall and feel all of her against him one more time. But he pulled away, reluctantly and pulled at a strand of her hair as he stepped back. She winked at him again.

"Go beat 'im." She said and licked her lips with an excited glance at his chest. Oh, he just loved the girl. He should probably tell her so sometimes soon.

Natsu leaned in and pecked her on the nose then pulled away completely. Lyon held out his first for Natsu to bump and he punched it. Lyon didn't recoil though and grinned. Lisanna squeezed Lyon's middle and grinned at Natsu.

"You can do this." She said and nodded. Natsu nodded too and grinned. Erza grabbed him by the arm then and pulled him behind her. Natsu grinned at Lucy one more time as saw Lisanna lean in and ask, in an undertone

"Did you try the ear thing yet?" And Lucy blushed. Natsu turned and laughed. He should have know. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that Lisanna was set on him having the hottest, sexiest and steamiest relationship there ever was. And even if that wasn't her intention, that was the result of whatever it was she did.

Only then did Natsu realize that Erza was talking.

"... Understandable but be sure to use it. You'll have to be attentive however. He may have a different technique when he fights against you." She looked at him. "did you get all of that?" She raised her eyebrows and Natsu nodded with a noncommittal grunt. He didn't dare ask her to repeat everything she'd just said. Besides he'd never been a 'having/following a plan'-sort of guy. Gildarts said he had good instincts and so far, those instincts had won him every fight he'd ever had. Who was he to suddenly throw them to the wind just because the opponent was someone way more experienced. Maybe he should ask Erza to repeat her advice... No... Her wrath would not be worth it and he didn't want to go into the fight with a black eye.

They arrived at the changing room and Erza practically pushed him inside and went through the door after him. Luckily there was no one there or they would have wondered what Erza was doing there since this was the men's changing room. Not that she would have cared and if anyone had said anything about it, she would have, with a glare, made them wish they could vanish into thin air. Natsu knew that feeling all too well, he'd been on the receiving end several times.

Jellal met them in the changing room holding a towel and a water bottle. It made Natsu realize that he'd forgotten his scarf and only when he realized he'd left it at Lucy's did he miss it. He made himself shrug it off though, the scarf would be in the way in a fight anyway.

"Come on." Erza said and tugged at Natsu's arm again. "You have to warm up."

Natsu did was he always did before a competition. He jumped rope for a few minutes, did a few sit ups, a few push-ups, and a few pull ups. Everything he needed to tell his body 'Wake up! It's time to work'. Then he stretched. Ever since he'd gotten together with Lucy he'd gotten way more flexible than he ever thought necessary. It turned out that every bit of flexibility had helped and made things oh so much easier. It was simply easier to fight against the other guy and not have to worry about if he'd be able to reach the point he needed.

As soon as Natsu was done and had rolled his shoulders Erza was there and grabbed his arm again. He stumbled as he came to his feet.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." He said and pulled his arm out of grip. "Damn Erza, you weren't this jumpy when you were up against Gildarts." Erza scowled at him and, for a change, Natsu scowled right back at her. Normally it would have earned him a slap on the head but this time Erza simply pulled her hand away.

"Last time I was the one fighting. I'm well aware of my abilities." She said. Natsu's scowl deepened.

"I know what I can do." He said. Erza didn't answer.

They entered the large hall where Erza had fought Kagura Makasuchi and next to the "cage" that had been built there were the three judges. One woman and two men dressed in formal clothes taking a few notes. Erza and Natsu walked up to them and when they were within earshot the judges all looked up and sat their clipboards in their laps. It felt to Natsu as if he was heading for an English exam or something of the sort. In a way, Natsu supposed it was an exam, only it was testing his ability in fighting.

Natsu shook the hands of the judges and they looked sternly at him and explained how the fighting was organised, what rules were in place and who was judging what. It was pretty basic really. Prof. Clive had the right to discontinue the fight at any point in the match (Natsu scoffed at this). Prof. Clive was also allowed to continue the match after Natsu had tapped out since this fight wasn't only about winning or losing but showing off his techniques, skill, strategy and ability to adapt. Natsu scoffed at this too, as if a fight wasn't about winning.

In the end the set-up was still pretty ordinary. There would be three rounds, five minutes each and a minutes' rest between the rounds. After every round the judges would write down points. No head butting, eye gouging, fishhooking, bla, bla, bla… the usual. Then Natsu shook the judges hands again and retreated back into the changing room to meditate, keep warm and prepare himself mentally. At least, that was what Erza ordered him to do. And Natsu did mentally prepare himself but he didn't do so by meditating. Instead he walked back and forth, rotating his shoulders to keep them loose.

As time went by Natsu heard the hall outside slowly filling up and the chatter of excited people reached him even in his focused mind. The noise excited him. It sent his heart beating and a grin spread on his face. It made him slap his fist into his hand and chant 'I'm ready, I can do this' to himself. He tried to tell himself that it was just an ordinary fight against an ordinary opponent and he would win as always. He knew all his techniques, Gildarts had taught him well and he was ready, he could do it. Despite his rant though, he couldn't help but be just a little unsettled.

A gong in the competition hall told him it was time to leave the confinement of the changing room and Erza came to escort him.

The crowd roared wildly and the noise filled him with even more excitement. The ring in his ears, the glow of his eyes when he saw the rink and the judges and the referee. They all looked unphased by his expression. His wild grin earned him another round of cheers from the crowd and when he thrust his fist in the air the noise was intoxicating and deafening. He could do this, he was so very ready.

With steady steps Natsu climbed into the rink and looked around shortly. The competition hall was packed with students and a few people in suits who looked very out of place among all the athletes. There was Gray with Juvia on his arm. They had recently become an official couple, much to Juvia's delight. Since they'd gotten together Gray had become even better at Ice-running although he claims it's because of a lot of training. Gajeel and Levy were next to them, standing close as always. Next to them was a large plaque spouting the words "Master Dragneel." over the rim was Lisanna's grinning face and Lyon's cool expression. Next to him stood Lucy, smiling, her blond hair in pigtails and around her neck, his most precious belonging, his scarf.

When Lucy looked away Natsu did too and turned in the direction that the whole crowd was turning its attention to. Prof. Clive made his way towards the rink with determined steps. His wore a soft smile and a glint was in his eye that Natsu immediately recognised as anticipation for a fight. He was sure his eyes too glinted in that exact way.

Prof. Clive grinned at Natsu and Natsu grinned back and watched as Gildarts deliberately took off his coat and with a very stylish flourish cast it to the side. The cheers were deafening again but Natsu didn't care in the slightest where the coat had gone.

Impatiently Natsu listened to the referee, a plain man who had to be stronger than he looked – he didn't look strong at all, as he went through the rules again.

"There will be no eye gouging, no fishhooking, no finger manipulation (bla bla bla)" Could they get on with the fight already? He'd heard it for most of his life. He knew how to fight and he knew how to fight clean. He was not one to cheat and not one to play foul.

"Prof. Clive has the ultimate verdict on whether or not Natsu wins. If all three rounds are fought without interruptions the judges will still give their points deciding the winner." Yes, yes, yes he knew this already too. Let him fight! His heart hardly ever hammered this hard. He was excited, he was burning to get the fight started, he was all fired up.

Finally the referee stopped talking and shook their hands; first prof. Clive, then Natsu. If Natsu wasn't completely mistaken, the referee looked a bit worried. Natsu grinned, if things went the way he wanted them to, there would be no need to worry.

Natsu ignored the referee when he briefly turned to the judges. He'd seen it enough times to know that he was giving them a signal to start paying proper attention. Natsu grinned at Gildarts who looked perfectly calm except for that excited shimmering in his eye. He looked like a proper warrior and Natsu was going to win!

"Fighters! Greet each other!" The referee suddenly shouted. Today was the day he finally proved how good he was. He and Gildarts simultaneously reached out their fists, the ones furthest from the referee and bumped them together. The crowd roared as did Natsu's insides.

"Let's do this." Natsu said and when their knuckles no longer touched another loud gong signalled the beginning of the first five minute round.

Natsu didn't even hesitate. He didn't even flinch or wait to see what Gildarts might do, he simply threw himself at him, fist at his jaw ready to strike. It was glorious as if all of his wildest dreams had finally come true. He was fighting the legend himself!

Natsu's fist flew to Gildarts' side but was blocked and a fist came flying straight at his face. He noticed immediately that he was going to have to up his reaction time. Gildarts might be old, but he was fast. Natsu was only just able to duck away but if grazed his ear and Gildarts slapped it. Natsu sidestepped and caught Gildarts open at his other side, his outstretched arm still at Natsu's ear. Natsu punched and made contact, his second punch hit the same place. Gildarts was unconcerned which didn't surprise Natsu in the slightest. What did surprise him was the sudden appearance of Gildarts' fist at Natsu's lip. There went a week's worth of kissing. Natsu ducked out of the way of a second attack and rammed his shoulder into Gildarts' middle. He kneed his leg and heard Gildarts groan. If the man wasn't so damn big he would have picked him up and thrown him on the mat. As this wasn't an equal fight size wise that wasn't going to happen. This was an exam, Gildarts was the examiner and Natsu was going to win.

With all his might Natsu shoved his shoulder into Gildarts' stomach and with an arm pulled at his leg. He didn't expect it to work, both he and Gildarts knew it. And Natsu knew he would receive a kick to the side if he didn't get Gildarts to the floor or got separated by the referee. He had to do something. So he went with his instincts.

Natsu punched Gildarts' side, he didn't get that much force into it but it was enough. With the punch to the side Gildarts shifted, bringing his weight onto his right back leg so he would kick with his left. The one Natsu had kicked before. Natsu could block and grab the leg and leg-lock him, that was his plan.

Only Gildarts didn't kick with his left leg. The moment Natsu stepped away he saw the shift in Gildarts' stance as he leaned forward and brought his leg around to kick. Natsu blocked sloppily. His surprise had caught him off guard. The kick caught him in the shoulder and his upper body lurched sideways.

Ouch. That hurt. And worse yet, it lost him some of his balance. Quickly he moved away, regaining what he had lost and finally feeling the sting in his lip. As soon as Natsu had gotten his balance he moved forward again determined to get in another punch before the five minutes were up.

What happened instead was rather low on Natsu's list of thing he expected in the first round. Gildarts managed to catch Natsu's arm as it came flying in full speed and practically flung him down without moving half a muscle. That much was all good and dandy, he was quite used to being thrown. What Natsu hadn't expected was that he'd be able to get a hold of Gildarts arm as he fell and pull him down with him. It was too perfect. Natsu brought up his legs to wrap them around Gildarts arm as soon as he hit the mat, ignoring the pain that shot through his back in his clumsy fall.

Of course, Gildarts was too quick for Natsu to get the lock in proper. His arm was too far away and not at all in the right angle to make the lock work. Natsu knew this and Gildarts knew this and Natsu was unable to get the lock working even when Gildarts came leaning in to punch Natsu right in the chest.

With a huff Natsu lost his breath a with a gong the end of the first round was indicated. Next followed a minute of rest.

Erza was immediately at his side.

"Didn't you hear what I told you? He doesn't like using his left leg to kick!" She hissed. Natsu growled. She had said that only he hadn't really listened.

"I had to see for myself. This is my fight Erza." Natsu said and ignored the deadly glare she shot at him. "You said you'd be my coach, don't tell me what to do." He added and the minute was over. He chugged a gulp of water and stepped forward to face Gildarts again. Again he looked completely calm and unphased. It bothered Natsu – to a point that he wanted to punch him. It was one of those condescending calm expressions that Gray always wore and that made Natsu want to punch Gildarts even more.

The gong sounded and Natsu was on the fly again. He had nothing planned this time. Gildarts had his guard up and there was no way, unless he left an opening himself, that Gildarts would easily open up for him. And Natsu rather wouldn't invite an easy punch from Gildarts. He punched hard. His lips was swelling and it smarted quick a bit. Natsu had to force himself not to draw his tongue over it. He knew it would only make it hurt more.

Gildarts was solid and unyielding. His protection was stable and flawless to a point that Natsu worried he would get a warning for not participating enough. Natsu fainted punches left and right just to coax Gildarts into a proper fight. The more Gildarts dodged, the more annoyed Natsu got, the more he worried that Gildarts didn't think he was good enough to properly fight him. And that only pissed Natsu off.

He didn't care for pretending to fight anymore. Natsu threw his punches for real and with his growing anger her strength seemed to grow too. Bruises bloomed on Gildarts forearms where Natsu's punches landed when he blocked. He could be hitting his body, Natsu thought, go all out, fight properly, if only Gildarts was so unyielding.

"Damn it!" Natsu shouted when another of his punches only connected with Gildarts' block. "Fight me already!" There was a glint in Gildarts eye and the tiniest of smiles on his lips. Then he looked away from Natsu and Natsu, despite himself, looked in the same direction.

He saw the punch flying at him before it connected with his brow. There was no way he could have avoided it, no way he could have gotten out of the way in time. When the fist connected, Natsu could only throw himself backwards to lessen the impact. There was no use though. The skin over his eye broke at once and blood gushed over his eye. There was only time to think about wiping it away though. Just as Natsu fell Gildarts came towards him, eyes intent and, by what Natsu could see, a lock in mind.

Gildarts moved towards Natsu as if in slow motion although it most definitely wasn't slow. He would have him within the stride and even if Natsu snatched his still outstretched arm, he was still falling and had no way of catching himself or evade whatever Gildarts had in mind.

His back connected with the floor and a huff of air left him. Gildarts was right above him and Natsu couldn't for the life of him figure out what Gildarts was going to do. He didn't have an arm or leg in his possession, there was no way he could put a lock on him like that. But there he was, eyes ablaze and a small grin on his lips and Natsu only wished that the gong would sound for the end of this round.

Of course it didn't, there was still a little while left.

Gildarts was on him. His left hand pulled at Natsu's right, moving it over his face. Then Natsu snapped out of his daze of confusion. This wasn't a lesson and he wasn't supposed to just lie there and be instructed in a hold. This was a fight he had to win.

Natsu kicked and caught Gildarts in the side, he groaned but grabbed Natsu's arm harder and pulled. Natsu came along off the floor as Gildarts pulled to the side getting himself on his back on the floor. That in itself was strange. This was not something Natsu had seen before, a lock from below?

But Natsu had Gildarts' arm now, he reminded himself, and that put him in power, he could do whatever he wanted.

Gildarts had his own agenda of course and when Natsu grabbed his arm even further he pulled and twisted. Natsu wasn't fazed, the act didn't unbalance him as it was supposed to.

What did unbalance him though was when Gildarts, having hit the floor, put his foot to Natsu's hips and pushed while he pulled at his arm. The push at his hip was so unexpected that Natsu actually stumbled. Gildarts took advantage of that stumble by hoisting Natsu up onto his foot while pulling at his arm and lifting him up. It was like when he'd played airplane with his dad. He had half a mind to throw out his arms and legs and imagining he had the wind in his hair. But then Gildarts flipped him sideways, pushed with his foot, pulled harder at his arm and with a hard thud, Natsu slammed to the floor. The breath was pushed out of his lungs and he gasped momentarily for air. Seconds later the gong sounded the end of the second round. Had it been another few moments Natsu would have been stuck in one of Gildarts deadly locks and he would have been done for it. The gong couldn't have come in a better time and yet Natsu wished he'd got to rest a few more seconds

He sat up. What was wrong with him?! He was Natsu, the Salamander, Dragneel, son of Igneel, boyfriend of Lucy Heartfilia and most importantly, he was the man who was fighting Gildarts Clive! He shook his head and slapped his temple with his open palm. It momentarily made him feel dizzy but then his head cleared. The referee came up to him.

"Are you alright?" He asked. It wasn't really out of concern for his well-being, more a question to whether or not he was up for the last round. Natsu got to his feet and nodded sternly. In his corner stood Erza, a mixture of worry, relief and anger on her otherwise stern face. She raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. A question. the same question the referee had asked but caring less about the match and more about his well-being. Natsu walked over to her and took the water she handed him. He drank and looked out over the audience, something he rarely did in a fight. He supposed that he looked over to one particular person in that audience. Her hands were in fists, biting on her lower lip. Lucy had worry written all over her face along with the excitement that a fight brought. Ever since they'd gotten together she'd gone to every single one of his fights and more often than not, when he and Gray were at each other's throats, she was the one to get them to stop. He loved her for it. It hurt much less to have her words bring them out of it than Erza's hard fists. Sure on occasion she kicked them but that was a cuddly quilt compared to Erza. He couldn't wait to get to fight her.

There was a shimmer in Lucy's eyes that, for some strange reason made Natsu frown. There had only even been two occasions when Natsu'd seen that look in her eyes. One was when she wrote and the other when she danced. Those two were things that she absolutely loved.

Natsu crooked his head to the side and held her gaze while he drank. Her worry disappeared and a shy smile took its place, sparkling eyes and all. She was so beautiful it made him smile too.

When the gong sounded Natsu realised that Erza had been talking and he hadn't listened again. She was going to punch him for that. He handed Erza his water bottle without looking at her

"Did you hear what I said?!" Erza called over the shouts of the crowd he didn't pay attention to. His eyes were fixated on Gildarts again. Natsu stepped away from his corner

"I didn't listen." He said and heard Erza gasp. "But I've got this. I'm all fired up now." His words really felt like they burned when they left his lips. It made him want to breathe fire. He punched the flat of his hand with his fists. He was all fired up, for real.

He remembered that first lesson in MMA he'd had with Lucy. Gildarts had wanted to teach him a lesson but he never said what kind of lesson it was. With that shimmering in Lucy's eyes directed at him, he finally understood.

Love what you do and don't let anyone be a distraction

From what he knew Gajeel had learned that lesson by being punched in the face a dussin times. He'd learned it much quicker too.

But there was nothing that could distract him. He had Gildarts in his line of sight and he, for a change, was going to enjoy himself.

He roared when he charged towards Gildarts, his arm drawn back ready to strike. An obvious move that he rarely used in a serious fight. Natsu saw Gildarts shift his stance so he could take advantage of Natsu's "Rage" and "carelessness". In the exact moment that Gildarts' body tensed to block Natsu's strike, he changed move mid-stride. Quick as the eye he ducked under Gildarts' rather weak attempt of keep up with the sudden change of direction, and ended up behind him. Seconds later Natsu had gotten two punches to Gildarts' side and before Gildarts came moving around to grab Natsu, he was gone again on the other side, kicked to Gildarts' left leg and saw him cringe.

Slowly Gildarts turned to Natsu pulling a strand of red hair out of his mouth and looked at him for a moment. Then he smiled and Natsu grinned his toothy grin that he knew Lucy would have loved.

Gildarts lunged himself at Natsu and they exchanged a few quick jabs, some of which Natsu knew would leave bruises the size of plums.

One moment it seemed to be obvious that Gildarts was going to win when he had a clear upper hand. Other times Natsu actually managed to push Gildarts a few steps back. Those times were the best for Natsu, it was a feeling he could have lived for. That rush of blood through his veins, the cold air moving in and out of his lungs, as he panted. It was glorious, he didn't want it to end. He could gladly have went on and fought Gildarts for the sake of fighting. Natsu love to fight. He loved to the core of his being.

Then he hesitated and frowned. The hesitation was a mistake of course. Gildarts used it immediately. The thought that had suddenly invaded his mind and his being was that something shared his deepest love. Or rather, someone, and that someone was looking at him with shimmering brown eyes that told him that she felt the same way about him too.

His arm was being pulled to the side when he realized that he was on the ground in Gildarts' clutches. But the joy that flushed through him at that moment was so overwhelming that he laughed out loud. He didn't care if he hurt and his arm was being twisted out of it's socket and if he didn't do anything he was going to lose.

Lucy loved him.

That was all the motivation he ever needed.

He wasn't entirely sure what he did. He moved on instinct alone and maybe all the training he'd done over the years along with it.

He hadn't hesitated long enough for Gildarts to get the full lock on Natsu and that was probably the only chance he would ever get. He broke out of the lock and used his position to grab Gildarts' leg. It was immobilized within seconds, it was this very lock that Lucy had broken in the first lesson using her remarkable flexibility. Gildarts wasn't that flexible and wouldn't be able to do that, besides, Natsu had come up with a way to prevent that move too.

The referee was at their side. Only in that moment did Natsu realize how quiet the audience had become. He wasn't surprised though – he had Gildarts, Gildarts Clive in a lock what was probably one of the strangest ones the audience had ever seen. Natsu forced himself not to laugh and held the leg tight. Gildarts was in a lock by Natsu's hands. That was a one in a lifetime thing and probably Gildarts' own life time.

Then Gildarts chuckled.

A second later Natsu was on his feet, his arm locked behind him and Gildarts' hands prevented him from so much as trying to get out. Natsu looked around confused. Then Gildarts let him go and held up his hands to Natsu when he shifted to get into the fight again.

Natsu frowned and dropped his hands. Gildarts smiled a genuine smile.

"Good job, Natsu." He said and clapped him on the shoulder. He held his eye for a moment before he turned to his corner where someone handed him a towel and a bottle of water. Natsu's frown deepened.

"What does this mean?" He asked but Gildarts only raised his hand and stepped out of the rink, the towel neatly slung over his shoulders. "Gildarts! What does this mean?!" Natsu shouted as Gildarts casually made his way to the changing room.

Not a word from the judges, not a gesture or signal. Natsu was just about to run after Gildarts to demand and answer, the audience was terribly quiet, it seemed that they didn't at all understand what was going on, just as he.

Then a pair of arms turned him around and crushed him in an iron embrace. Natsu stood there, unable to hug Erza back in either happiness or anger.

"What did he mean?" Natsu mumbled to himself.

"Idiot." Erza cuffed him over the head. Natsu glared and wrenched out of her grip.

"What?" He barked and would have challenged any glare of reprimand that she could come up with. But Erza only smiled.

"Natsu. I officially challenge you the fight of your life." She said. Natsu swallowed, the trace of a frown still on his forehead. He wasn't sure of she meant what he thought she meant of if it was something completely different. Then she grabbed Natsu's wrist, and brought it up high above his head.

"I present to you the Salamander. Master MMA Fighter. Natsu Dragneel!" Erza shouted and the crowd erupted in an eardrum destroying roar.

For a moment Natsu stood there in shock.

He'd done it.

He'd done it?

He'd done it!

A broad grin spread over his lips and he thrust his second fist in the air and found Lucy's eyes. She was pumping her fists in the air next to Juvia. Lisanna hugged Lyon tightly, Gray just shook his head and Gajeel looked rather annoyed.

He'd done it.

Natsu was a master.

* * *

><p>If it'd been up to Natsu, he would have ended the fight as he always did, with a shower and a good party with his friends. The party was still planned but before he even got to shower or even have Lucy kiss his swollen lip, Erza dragged him off with the judges to sign forms and make his masters title official.<p>

Gildarts came along for it too but Natsu couldn't bring himself to glare at him for leaving the fight like he did. The grin hadn't left by the time he showed up and didn't move when Erza finally told him he could leave.

He showered, feeling sore as the scalding hot water ran over his body. He wasn't really beaten up that much but it still hurt quite a bit. He'd worked his body harder than he'd done in a long time.

Natsu liked the way the steam from the water surrounded him. It made him feel as though he stood in a hot cloud and no one could see him. He was usually alone in the shower in the changing room. Others complained about his hot showers saying it made the entire place hot as a sauna. Natsu had simply gotten into the habit of staying at the rink until there was no one left in the changing room, then he could shower in peace for as long as he wanted.

Usually Natsu didn't shower for that long. But after a fight, it was one of his favourite thing to do. In a strange way he liked to feel every bruise with his hands. He always ran his hands over his body. Where he'd been punched. He like the slight tinge of pain it left. Sure, it was only a fraction of the pain he'd felt from the actual punch and that was what he liked about it. The majority of the pain was gone but the tinge of excitement was still there. It made him tingle all over.

Suddenly music turned on in the background. Natsu turned around and frowned. He recognised the song as one of Lucy's favourites. It had was the very song that she had danced to at the Winter festival, that song she had danced to that first day he watched her dance. Lucy had asked him to dance her dance with her at the festival when they'd just gotten together. Natsu had considered it for a while until he saw it a second time and realized that he could never, not in a million years , well, maybe in a million, do it justice.

Then a figure moved in the fog of the hot shower. No one was supposed to be in the changing room. Especially in this one since no one had a competition after him.

The figure came through the fog slowly and with his frown deepening further he saw that the shape of the body was too curvy to be a man which would have been less strange since this was the men's changing room.

When she'd moved close enough that he felt the need to cover himself with his hands she stopped and started to move. She was just a silhouette against the fog. She moved slowly, tantalizingly, with her hips swaying from side to side, hands glided up and down her body outlining the curve of her form.

She was quiet as she moved and the music was loud enough that he couldn't hear her feet slashing through the water. The lack of sound of her feet made her look like a ghost or better yet, and angel and he smiled in recognition. He let go of his groin and sighed as he felt his member grow and harden.

She had practised dancing in water. Her pirouette was as steady as if she'd danced in her pointe shoes. Her hair clung to her body from the steam and made the turn look even more eerie, more ghost-like and more sensual. She was the only woman who could have made him love dance. He even remembered some of the damn words. What he loved most about dancing was her though, her movements; the way she could lift her leg in such an impossible angle and hold it there by the strength of her own body. He loved how she so unashamedly exposed her heart to him when she danced.

She stepped through the fog and it billowed up around her. Her lips were slightly parted and her chest heaved for every breath she took. Her hair stuck to her shoulders but even in her complete nakedness it was her eyes that caught his attention.

Before they had been shimmering with love, now her brown eyes were practically ablaze with emotion. Love was only a part of it; there was lust and there was longing too. The furnace in her eyes made his body feel as though it was on fire and he loved the feeling.

Natsu moved to her hardly noticing that he left the steam of the water behind. He slipped his hands around her waist, shivering slightly at her soft and slick skin. She was warm but not as warm as the air around them. Her hands came to meet his chest and their foreheads rested together. He could smell the scent of her mixed with the fog. It was intoxicating. Her lips were still slightly parted and occasional the tip of her tongue slipped out between her lips wetting them as if they could be dry in the steam. The effect on Natsu was profound. He wanted to moan and kiss her all over, he wanted to run his hands over her body and feel her muscles as her hands tangled in his hair and pulled him against her. Instead he moved to the music.

Lucy's eyes closed for a second when he began to move with her and Natsu thought he heard the softest of moans escape her lips. When her eyes met his again they looked as though another log had been stacked onto the fire there. She didn't hesitate, she moved with him, responded to his moves and he set the pace. The music was perfect, slow and eerie and the lyrics was nonsensical and unimportant. All that mattered was that Lucy moved with him and that his hands were in contact with her skin. He loved the feel of her. When she moved he almost believed in magic. When they moved together, he was almost certain it existed because only magic could allow him to dance with a creature as beautiful and elegant as Lucy.

She moved so confidently in his arms. He could feel how safe she was when she danced with him. She allowed him to hold her when her feet were off the floor and she let him feel the skin of her leg when she lifted it and moved it across his body. Her eyes closed when his hands guided her arms through space and she trusted him when he pulled at her wrist to slam their bodies together.

His other hand snaked around her waist and held her body to his by the small of her back. Both of them breathing hard into each others faces and the breaths hitched with Natsu's erection slipped between Lucy's legs and moved against her core. Natsu closed his eyes for a moment and their hips moved side to side in their stand still. His right arm slowly let go of Lucy's wrist and moved down her arm. She was so warm, so slick from the steam it was like her skin didn't want to let go of him and he would have been happy to obey. His right hand moved over Lucy's shoulder and down her waist. Her hand came down and she tangled her fingers into his damp hair. Her grip was firm as if telling him that there was something she wanted but she wouldn't say it. Natsu was glad for it, he didn't want her to say anything. The music was enough and it spoke exactly what he was thinking. The feel of the music was like clenching his fist when he felt a strong emotion to not let it boil over. It felt like being able to release that fist and breathe freely again. When he was with Lucy it was as if he would never have to clench his fist ever again, even if they sometimes yelled at each other. Natsu trusted that Lucy loved him enough to always come back to him.

Natsu's hand came to rest on Lucy's ribs and his thumbs could just feel the underside of her breast. He had recently learned that she was sensitive there and when he drew his thumb over her skin she shivered.

The hand that Lucy had on Natsu's chest roamed over the contours of his body. Her touch was feather light and made him shiver, especially when her fingertips traced over his neck like soft kisses. He wanted to moan but he didn't want to mood to be interrupted by his voice, their pants were already too tantalizingly sexy.

Then Lucy moved her hips against him instead of with him side to side and Natsu felt her wetness envelope him. There was no way he could have held it in, the groan slipped out of his lips. Lucy shivered in response and pushed her body closer to him. His member only slipped deeper between her legs.

Her lips were at the base of his neck now and he felt every sharp breath and every tiny move her lips made over and over.

Natsu wanted to grab her and slap her against the wall and have his way with her just like they'd done so many times before. At least one part of him want nothing but that. The other, stronger part of him would have loved to lay her on a soft bed of clouds and made sweet sweet love to her. He wanted her to know how he felt about her.

He leaned over and brushed his lips against her neck just over the spot where he could feel her pulse the strongest. It hammered there as if she was dancing.

"Natsu." She breathed and traced her teeth against his skin. The sound of her voice was just too good. Hearing her saying his name sent a shiver down his spine and a groan escaped his lips. If those were the last words he ever heard he would still die in peace. She was about to speak more but he hurried to cover her lips with a finger.

"Sh…" He breathed and felt her shiver. "Don't speak." He was happy in this trance like state no matter how his erection wished to slip into her wet folds and made himself at home. Her lips moved against him and his member twitched. Her breath was hard on his throat. He wanted her so and he didn't want to let this feeling go. Lucy kissed his neck at the same place he'd kissed her. He shivered.

"I love you." She whispered against his skin. Natsu moaned and pulled Lucy hard against himself. She didn't mind in the slightest and pulled at him too. Natsu was just about to tell her that he felt the same way when her lips parted and she kissed his neck again.

"Make love to me Natsu." She breathed so desperately. Her chest pushed in his with every deep breath. She felt so good it made Natsu shiver. How could he deny this wish. The only thing he wanted was to make her happy.

She was the one to push him towards the wall though and gently so with a hand on his chest, their bodies never separated. It would have been impossible to move apart. Both of Natsu's hands were at the small of Lucy's back, holding her tight and Lucy still had her hand in his hair and she seemed to have no intention of letting go.

Lucy's lips slowly moved up Natsu's jaw until she found the corner of his lips. He wanted so very much to kiss her but he knew it would only cause him pain.

Lucy kissed the side of his mouth until his back met the cold tiles of the shower area. He hardly even cared. He'd rather have his back against it than Lucy's, he wasn't as sensitive to cold as she was.

Natsu parted his lips and reached out to trace his tongue against her lips. She hovered just above his lips not pushing into him as they'd done so many times before. Natsu loved the feel of her lips against his tongue. She still tasted of strawberries and vanilla. Then her tongue came to meet his and Natsu couldn't help himself but gasp. In the heat surrounding them it felt so exquisite, so warm and slippery with saliva. He loved it. He wanted more of it. But he knew that if he pushed his lips against her it would hurt. Lip wounds always hurt the most.

Lucy pushed herself against him in a way that made Natsu think of someone who'd been deprived of human contact for too long to bear any more. The way she moved her hips back and forth rubbed his hard member between the space of her thighs and her womanhood. With every time she pushed close to him he felt his member coated with her juices making her movements even easier. It was driving him crazy.

Slowly he moved one of his hands from the small over her back and drew it across her waist and up to the mound of her breast. She gasped against their dancing tongues when he squeezed and Natsu felt the sound of it push a wave of pleasure through him. Natsu deepened their kiss, ignoring the sting in his lower lip, enjoying the feel of her lips on the rest of his. Every part of her made him shiver with longing and restraint.

He teased at Lucy's nipple, earning more gasps when he pushed and massaged her. He wanted to badly to be inside her, to feel as much of her as he was allowed. She'd already asked for it once and he didn't want to tease her to go from this calm desperation to frenzied desperation. He wanted to hold her close and feel all of her. But how could he do that in this place. He would never lie her down on the floor where so many feet had been.

That was when Lucy stepped away and pulled him with her. He had only just time to turn off the scalding hot water before Lucy pulled him with her to the actual changing area. Wood surrounded them there along with a wooden bench that separated two rows of lockers.

Lucy let go of his hand and spread out a towel on the bench. Then she turned to him and slowly Natsu wrapped his arms around her middle again.

"The doors are locked. We're all alone." Lucy said before she leaned in again and kissed his neck, sucked on his skin. Natsu simply shivered in anticipation. "Please, Natsu, I want you. Make love to me." Slowly the two of them moved towards the bench. Lucy pulled just a tiny bit at his waist but he didn't really need the encouragement. They moved steadily to their destination. The head of his member bumped against Lucy, interrupting his breathing and making it ragged with anticipation. Their eyes were connected the entire time they moved. Lucy's brown eyes were burning with such desire that Natsu hardly could control himself. Lucy had once told him that he looked like that in a fight. He looked full of passion, like he would devour her if only she'd let him or if only she'd push him over the line.

At the bench Lucy slowly sat and leaned back and spread her legs wide for him. Her so open acceptance of him was enough to make him moan and smile at his luck to have Lucy. He could have moved to her womanhood and licked her for a while but he didn't want to leave their eye contact. He just wanted to keep looking at her, watch her pant though her slightly parted lips, feel her chest brush his with every breath she took.

Natsu moved a hand along Lucy's thigh feeling her soft skin and moved his body to hover over her, elbows at either side of her head. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, closing his eyes just as they touched. The softness of her full lips made him smile and almost to his surprise Lucy smiled too and positioned herself to give him the best angle for entrance. He felt his tip slip into her folds and he gasped. She was so warm, wet and inviting. Her hand trailed along his spine and her eyes were closed, anticipating him, welcoming him with complete trust.

When he finally moved inside, Lucy sighed contentedly and seemed to relax completely. Natsu shuddered and moaned softly. She was so very wet and felt to very good. It was like discovering his favourite thing all over again and he nearly didn't want to move again.

Lucy wrapped her legs around his hips and locked them tight. By the way she held him Natsu understood that she had no intention to let him go, no intention of letting him move away from her. She wanted him close.

Natsu trailed his lips down Lucy's neck kissing softly. His lips were too sore for him to give her a new hickey although he very much wanted to. One of Lucy's hands wrapped itself into his hair and held him tight there. Then he started to move. Lucy moaned breathily and pushed him closer to her. With her holding him so close there was only so fast he could move and that wasn't particularly fast at all. But it felt good, every second of it and he was probably breathing way too fast for moving so slow.

Lucy breathed into his ear and that too made him shiver. His ear was sensitive. Lucy licked it and Natsu shuddered all the way to his groin. His member twitched inside Lucy making her gasp. Then she licked his ear again and bit on the earlobe. Natsu moaned and moved a tiny bit faster. He had never thought this slow pace could do such miracles. Even Lucy panted as she, oh goodness, took his earlobe into her sweet hot mouth and sucked on it.

"Oh, Lucy." Natsu couldn't help it. He couldn't stop it. He dug his hands under her and pulled her up so she sat on his hip. Lucy moaned and didn't wait to move against him, to grind her hips into him. Natsu groaned and kissed her skin, her chest right in front of him. She held onto him so hard that every breath pushed her cleavage into his face. Natsu saw beads of sweat glistening on her skin and he traced his tongue around her nipple and licked it slowly, carefully. He tasted her and every other part of skin her could find while Lucy ground her hips against him slowly but surely bringing herself over the edge.

Oh, when her inner walls clenched around his member he moaned and moved his hips instead of her. Lucy moaned when he moved and gripped Natsu's back with her fingernails. It made Natsu gasp and grind his hips harder. He loved to feel her come around him.

Natsu gave her a moments rest while he laid her down on the bench again. She looked up and met his eyes. She panted and her eyes were shimmering again so full of love, so beautiful.

Natsu put his forehead to hers and held her gaze for a moment. She was so beautiful.

When he came it wasn't the raging storm he'd felt so many times before, that overwhelming explosion of release that had him moaning blindly. This time it was gentle, a sweet climax that made him shiver and hold Lucy close to him. His lips roamed to her ear and he whispered her name over and over. Lucy's hands were in his hair holding him close too. She shivered with him, she accepted his orgasm, she held him close when he relaxed.

They had never made love before. They had always been full of passion and that was all that had mattered. It was as if their relationship had suddenly taken a big leap forward. There was a new dimension to it and Natsu loved it. He pulled Lucy to sit on his hips again and they held each other for a moment, breathing hard and slowly coming down from their high.

It was almost painful to let go of Lucy when he finally was so flaccid that he slipped out of her. Lucy pushed away from him and bunched up the towel to place between her legs. Only then did she look up and met his eye. It took a moment before she smiled but when she did it was as if her entire face lit up like a star. Her eyes were still shimmering.

Tenderly Natsu but his hand to the side of her cheek and softly kissed her lips. The way she breathed in told Natsu that she dearly wished to push her lips harder against his but she didn't. He kissed her even more tenderly for it.

Slowly, very slowly they moved apart and started to dress. Natsu couldn't help but every now and then look over at Lucy when she pulled fresh panties over her hips and when she settled a shirt from before over her waist and chest all with her back to him. Her hair had dried and was tangled. She didn't particularly look like she'd thoroughly screwed, rather she looked like she'd been swimming in a pool for a few hours. She looked beautiful. It distracted him so much that, by the time Lucy was done getting dressed he was only in his underwear. She had even put her hair in a bun. She laughed when she looked him up and down.

"Do you need help?" She asked in a rather small voice and pulled her bun unto place. Quickly Natsu looked down at himself just to make sure that he didn't have a boner again. He didn't but still blushed when Lucy walked over to him, put her hand on his chest and kissed his neck. "Come on. We have a party to go to." She said. Only then did Natsu realize that Lucy was dressed in a red backless top, with it she wore black shorts and flat black shoes.

Natsu looked at the pile of clothes he was supposed to be wearing. It was a black shirt and grey pants, one of his nicer outfits.

One of Lucy's delicate hands picked up the shirt. She was pale compared to it. She smoothed out the collar and held out the shirt for him. Without a word he slipped into it and Lucy smoothly guided it up his arms and over his shoulders. Natsu turned to her and she did the buttons and he stepped into his pants. On his own this time. Then Lucy brought his scarf to him and ceremoniously draped it over his shoulders and around his neck. Natsu sighed contentedly when she soft fabric settled against his cheeks. Lucy smiled at him then held out her hand for him to take. He didn't realize that she'd already packed his towel, water and fighting gear and pants. She shouldered the pack and hand in hand they left the changing room. Natsu was happy. There was little that could make the day even better.

* * *

><p>After a small detour to Lucy's apartment to drop off the bag, Natsu and Lucy made their way to Gray's. Lisanna and Lyon were nowhere to be seen in the apartment so Natsu assumed that they were already at the party. It was unusual for Gray to host a party on a Saturday but he assumed it was for his sake; Gray had done the same for Erza. In an undertone Natsu had also head Gray say that Lucy and Erza would both have killed him if he had refused. It warmed his head that Gray had organized it for him. He'd only glared at him for a day after all and then pointed at him and yelled that he'd better win. He'd probably added some sort of insult that he hadn't really heard because of an insult of his own.<p>

To his surprise the party already seemed to have gone on for quite some time. He could tell by the loudness of the shouts over the music. Although it only was 10 in the evening the party sounded more like it was 3 in the morning. How much wilder would the party become if things escalated the way it usually did?

Erza stood on the doorstep with a large grin on her lips. She had exchanged her grey blouse and blue skirt for a long red dress with a slit up her left leg and a deep V-necked cleavage. Jellal stood next to her with an arm around her waist and Natsu saw him steal glances at Erza's cleavage repeatedly.

When Erza brightened Natsu assumed that she had just seen and recognised them and she stuck her head into the crack of the front door. Seconds later all of his friends stepped out on the landing. Gray with his arm around Juvia's shoulders. (A gesture he'd never done in public before. It made Natsu smile.) Lisanna arm in arm with Lyon, Levy holding hands with Gajeel. He was the only one who wasn't smiling although Natsu, as he stepped closer saw the corners of his mouth tug upwards. Behind them came Aries arm in arm with Loke. He planted a kiss on the side of her face and she giggled and blushed. Gray turned to them and said something and they laughed.

To Natsu's astonishment, behind all of his friends came Mira-Jane, Lucy's teacher and Lisanna's sister, Cana, Lucy's friend, Laxus, Juvia's teacher and last but definitely not least, Gildarts himself.

Natsu nearly started to cry at the sight of all these people who'd come to greet him and to congratulate him. Lucy tugged at his arm. He hadn't even realized that he'd stopped.

"You haven't seen the best part yet." Lucy said with glistening eyes and tears brimming in them. She smiled so widely her cheeks seemed to be stuck that way. How could there be something better?

But there was.

The crowd of his friends and role-models parted and let a short white haired man step forward. He wore a funny hat and a long staff that made him look like a wizard. Only Natsu knew who this was. This was Principal Makarov Dreyar, Master fencer and boxing back in his day. He'd been a heavy weight back then too.

The short man held out his hand and staff as if he wanted to embrace the whole world.

"Welcome Natsu! Master MMA fighter." He said in a booming voice and a huge grin. Natsu shivered and Lucy squeezed his hand. Never had something felt so official. He'd had done it. He had really done it.

A huge grin spread out over his Natsu's face as he felt a tear skim over his chest. He'd done it.

"BEST! DAY! EVER!" Natsu roared and thrust his fists in the air.

With a smile at Lucy he squeezed her hand and the two of them ran to greet and hug their friends. Even Mira-Jane and Laxus hugged and congratulated him. Natsu practically lifted Principle Makarov off the ground and swung him about. He didn't even complain but laughed. Afterwards though he clonked him on the head with his staff. Not even the pain damped Natsu's mood in the slightest.

In the history of parties at Gray's this one was by far the loudest and the wildest. Random people hooked up and hardly bothered getting a room. Even Laxus and Mira-Jane were seen "sneaking" upstairs. In reality they couldn't stop pushing each other against the wall every few steps and showing their tongues down each other's throats. It took a collective shout from Gray, Elfman, Evergreen and a few others of "Get a room already!" for them to finally move out of sight. Fiore academy of Sports was never the same for it, he was almost sad that he'd be leaving soon. Now that he was a master though he could technically apply for a job as a teacher. Either that or challenge every fighter he found… The second sounded much more fun. Erza had already challenged him. That was his first goal. It was going to be glorious to properly fight her.

Late at night when Natsu was properly drunk he danced with Lucy on a table kissing her neck with his hands around her middle. The music droned in his ears and the beat pumped with his heartbeat and the sway of their hips. Natsu loved the sway of her hips against him, it made him shiver.

Around them their friends danced too. Gray and Juvia stood in a corner tightly entwined and moving slowly without caring for the music much. Smiles were on everyone faces and every now and then a burst of laughter filled Natsu's ears. He was a beautiful sound. There was nothing better in the world.

Just one more thing he wanted to say.

"I love you." He whispered in Lucy's ear. She turned to him with a wide smile.

"I love you too, Master Dragneel." Natsu shivered and let out a breathy moan. The reaction surprised him.

"Don't say that." He gasped and looked around hoping that no one had heard. Of course, the music was too loud for words to travel far.

"Why, you seem to like it." Lucy said and bit her lips. The corners of her lips turned up. Natsu shivered and leaned in to kiss her.

"Very much." He whispered against her lips. She kissed him drawing her tongue over her lower lips making him shiver again.

"Wanna go somewhere private?" She asked and Natsu saw her eyes shimmering again. Natsu's breath hitched and his crotch jolted. 'Desperately' he wanted to say and kissed her again.

"You're gonna kill me one day, Lucy." He said and pulled her upstairs.


End file.
